It's Monday, What are You Reading?

This weekly reading roundup is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, you can head over there to see what everyone else has recently read and is currently reading this week.

This post contains affiliate links, see disclosure for more detail. I voluntarily reviewed complimentary copies of many of these books, all opinions are my own.

What I Read Last Week:

Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison, I rated this book 3.5 stars

About the Book:

Competitive skier Mindy Wright is a superstar in the making until a spectacular downhill crash threatens not just her racing career but her life. During surgery, doctors discover she’s suffering from a severe form of leukemia, and a stem cell transplant is her only hope. But when her parents are tested, a frightening truth emerges. Mindy is not their daughter.

The race to save Mindy’s life means unraveling years of lies. Was she accidentally switched at birth or is there something more sinister at play? The search for the truth will tear a family apart…and someone is going to deadly extremes to protect the family’s deepest secrets.

My Thoughts:

Listened to this one on audio, definitely kept me interested and guessing throughout.
Some of the parts I guessed really early on, others were slightly more surprising. I absolutely didn’t like some of the characters, and couldn’t quite figure out why no one was as suspicious of them as I was. Towards the end it just got super ridiculous with some of the things that happened, but I was still invested in the story and hoping things would turn out well for the characters I did care about.
I liked Mindy and found the parts about mental illness and mental hospitals heartbreaking and realistic. Depression is so ugly and insidious.

Delayed Justice by Cara Putman, I rated this book 4.5 stars

About the Book:

Jaime Nichols went to law school to find the voice she never had as a child, and her determination to protect girls and women in the path of harm drives her in ways both spoken and unspoken. As Jaime, now a criminal defense attorney, prepares to press charges against someone who wronged her long ago, she must face not only her demons but also the unimaginable forces that protect the powerful man who tore her childhood apart.

Chandler Bolton, a retired veteran, is tasked with helping a young victim who must testify in court—and along with his therapy dog, Aslan, he’s up for the task. When he first meets Jaime, all brains, beauty, and brashness, he can’t help but be intrigued. As Chandler works to break through the wall Jaime has built around herself, the two of them discover that they may have more to offer one another than they ever could have guessed—and that together, they may be able to help this endangered child.

My Thoughts:

This book just absolutely gutted me. If you’re looking for a light, easy read, maybe put this one on the shelf for a while until you are ready for a book that speaks to real life difficult situations.
This novel seems to have literally been taken right from the headlines. These issues are at the forefront of the news just this week regarding abuse. It delves into the hard questions–why did she wait so long to report the abuse? How believable is she, and what proof does she have?
I had so much compassion and empathy for Jaime as she navigated difficulty from every side. Learning how to have courage when she didn’t feel as if any existed. The author’s use of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe as a teaching tool is so meaningful and will touch every reader, regardless of background and experiences. We all need to know that we have a God who fights for us, who isn’t tame.
The relationship between Chandler and Jaime is portrayed so gently and beautifully as well. The friendship that develops into something more feels right with this story, as difficult as the situations dealing with past abuse are to handle at times.
My only slight quibble with this book is that I felt the ending was a little abruptly tied up, but overall this is such a fantastic novel I can overlook that one small thing.

Miles From Where We Started by Cynthia Ruchti, I rated this book 4 stars

About the Book:

Weeks away from their one-year wedding anniversary, Mallory and Connor Duncan can’t even agree on how to end their marriage. But when a last-minute crisis lands them on a three-thousand-mile road trip together, Mallory wonders if their story may not be over after all.

The trip begins to unravel before the key is even in the ignition. When an at-risk, trouble-seeking eleven-year-old is unexpectedly thrown into their travel plans, close quarters get even tighter. Soon, the couple believes this whole experience will spell disaster.

My Thoughts:

Ruchti is a talented writer who always gets to the hearts of her characters and this transfers directly to the reader. This latest offering is a quietly intense story about commitment and surrender.
It took me quite a bit to get invested in this story. We start out not really knowing what is going on other than that this couple’s one-year marriage is in trouble. Soon the reader is given more information and then the story takes off.
I loved Judah and the balance he provided between Mallory and Connor. His young street-smart perspective gave the perfect counterbalance to the couple’s strengths and weaknesses.
I personally know of a couple dealing with a hereditary illness similar to the one in Connor’s family. If I didn’t know how devastating this has been for the older married couple, as well as the effects it has had on their young adult children wondering if it will hit them, I don’t know that I would have been as invested in the story as much as I was. That part is very realistic, and those of us who don’t have that threat hanging over our heads cannot fathom the far-reaching effects this has on a marriage at any stage.
I became so fascinated throughout the journey of the characters as well as the interesting people they met along the way. Wisdom about freedom, forgiveness, faith, and family resonate throughout the tale. I highly recommend setting back into this novel and letting God show you what lessons He wants you to learn, because I certainly learned some things about myself along the way.

A Sparkle of Silver by Liz Johnson, I rated this book 3.5 stars

About the Book:

Ninety years ago, Millie Sullivan’s great-grandmother was a guest at oil tycoon Howard Dawkins’ palatial estate on the shore of St. Simons Island, Georgia. Now, Millie plays a 1920s-era guest during tours of the same manor. But when her grandmother suggests that there is a lost diary containing the location of a hidden treasure on the estate, along with the true identity of Millie’s great-grandfather, Millie sets out to find the truth of her heritage–and the fortune that might be hers. When security guard Ben Thornton discovers her snooping in the estate’s private library, he threatens to have her fired. But her story seems almost too ludicrous to be fiction, and her offer to split the treasure is too tempting to pass up . . .

My Thoughts:

This first book in Johnson’s Georgia Coast Romance series has a touch of everything: romance, mystery, history, and a beautiful spiritual message about forgiveness.
Both Millie and Ben have strong reasons for finding the treasure, and as they search, they grow closer to each other. The development of their romance feels natural and believable, and their attempts to resist each other makes the relationship more appealing to the reader.
I loved the use of the old diaries to tell the story of the past, but it made it a bit more difficult to connect with the historical characters (as you would with a dual timeline story with two narratives), but I loved the use of the diary and letters to unravel the mystery. I was very invested in the mystery and its ultimate resolution was fantastic.
Millie’s attitude and reactions are occasionally very immature and made her character less easy to relate to than Ben. Her overall growth is shown and her ability to forgive is meaningful in the end.
I look forward to other books in this series, the setting is magnificent and adds depth and character to the story.

When We Were Young by Karen Kingsbury, I rated this book 2 stars

About the Book:

From their first meeting, to their stunning engagement and lavish wedding, to their happily-ever-after, Noah and Emily Carter were meant to be together. Theirs is a special kind of love and they want the world to know. More than a million adoring fans have followed their lives on Instagram since the day Noah publicly proposed to Emily. But behind the carefully staged photos and encouraging posts, their life is anything but a fairytale, and Noah’s obsession with social media has ruined everything.

Distraught, Emily reaches out to her friend Kari Baxter Taylor and tells her the truth: Noah and Emily have decided to call it quits. He is leaving in the morning.

But when Noah wakes the next day, everything is different. Emily is gone and the kids are years older. Like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, bizarre and strange events continue throughout the night so that Noah is certain he’s twenty years older, and he is desperate for a second chance.

Now it would take a miracle to return to yesterday.

My Thoughts:

Very fast read, and an intriguing premise that propels the plot and made me really want to know how things were going to turn out.
What did not work for me (mild spoilers):
Everything here is nearly one-sided. Noah is made to be the ultimate villain, especially when he begins to have flashes of what the future will hold for him and his family. Although lip service is given in a few places to Emily’s role in the demise/fade of their marriage, overall Kingsbury lays the blame at Noah’s feet and hits the reader over the head with a sledgehammer with the bleakness of his future after the choices he makes. This is pretty much were she lost me, because I couldn’t relate the Noah portrayed in the past and present with the person he seems to become in the future.
I think this story would have been so much more effective for me had the author given equally bleak future glimpses to both Noah and Emily and then had them come back together to fight for their marriage. It didn’t seem that Emily was at all willing to fight to keep the marriage together in the first place, she had just given up.
As a side storyline, the small portion with Ryan and Kari was totally unrealistic and unappealing as well. Again, it made the man out to be the “bad guy” in the situation, and his dreams for his future seemed to be devalued and so much less than Kari’s desires.
I am so invested in the Baxters and this series of books that I just keep reading them, even though some (like this one) are way too heavy handed and preachy. The author’s very valid points about social media and loss of connection get lost in the shuffle of so many other soapbox issues. I really liked her idea of God using dreams to change hearts, but I thought the book’s one-sided treatment of the issue lost the overall impact that could have been shown.

What I’m Reading/Listening to Now:

Listening to:

The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz, first book in the Jane Hawk series

About the Book:

“I very much need to be dead.”

These are the chilling words left behind by a man who had everything to live for—but took his own life. In the aftermath, his widow, Jane Hawk, does what all her grief, fear, and fury demand: find the truth, no matter what.

People of talent and accomplishment, people admired and happy and sound of mind, have been committing suicide in surprising numbers. When Jane seeks to learn why, she becomes the most-wanted fugitive in America. Her powerful enemies are protecting a secret so important—so terrifying—that they will exterminate anyone in their way.

But all their power and viciousness may not be enough to stop a woman as clever as they are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless—and who is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.

Under My Skin by Lisa Unger

About the Book:

What if the nightmares are actually memories?

It’s been a year since Poppy’s husband, Jack, was brutally murdered during his morning run through Manhattan’s Riverside Park. In the immediate aftermath, Poppy spiraled into an oblivion of grief, disappearing for several days only to turn up ragged and confused wearing a tight red dress she didn’t recognize. What happened to Poppy during those lost days? And more importantly, what happened to Jack?

The case was never solved, and Poppy has finally begun to move on. But those lost days have never stopped haunting her. Poppy starts having nightmares and blackouts—there are periods of time she can’t remember, and she’s unable to tell the difference between what is real and what she’s imagining. When she begins to sense that someone is following her, Poppy is plunged into a game of cat and mouse, determined to unravel the mystery around her husband’s death. But can she handle the truth about what really happened?

Reading:

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

About the Book:

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?

Swimming in the Deep End by Christina Suzann Nelson

About the Book:

Olympic dreams on the line.

A beloved son’s lost future.

Long-buried secrets uncovered.

A broken heart and empty arms.
In this moving, masterful saga from best-selling novelist Christina Suzann Nelson, four women’s lives collide. Their tangled courses and attempts to find grace in the midst of crisis combine in one heartfelt story showing the many faces of motherly love.

Up Next to Read:

Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough

About the Book:

Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job and her best friend Marilyn.

But when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him, too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it’s time to let her terrifying secret past go.

But when her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see, Lisa’s world explodes.

As she finds everything she has built threatened, and not knowing who she can trust, it’s up to Lisa to face her past in order to save what she holds dear.

But someone has been pulling all their strings. And that someone is determined that both Lisa and Ava must suffer.

Because long ago Lisa broke a promise. And some promises aren’t meant to be broken.

The Other Mother by Carol Goodman

About the Book:

When Daphne Marist and her infant daughter, Chloe, pull up the gravel drive to the home of Daphne’s new employer, it feels like they’ve entered a whole new world. Tucked in the Catskills, the stone mansion looks like something out of a fairy tale, its lush landscaping hiding the view of the mental asylum just beyond its border. Daphne secured the live-in position using an assumed name and fake credentials, telling no one that she’s on the run from a controlling husband who has threatened to take her daughter away.

Daphne’s new life is a far cry from the one she had in Westchester where, just months before, she and her husband welcomed little Chloe. From the start, Daphne tries to be a good mother, but she’s plagued by dark moods and intrusive thoughts that convince her she’s capable of harming her own daughter. When Daphne is diagnosed with Post Partum Mood Disorder, her downward spiral feels unstoppable—until she meets Laurel Hobbes.

Laurel, who also has a daughter named Chloe, is everything Daphne isn’t: charismatic, sophisticated, fearless. They immediately form an intense friendship, revealing secrets to one another they thought they’d never share. Soon, they start to look alike, dress alike, and talk alike, their lives mirroring one another in strange and disturbing ways. But Daphne realizes only too late that being friends with Laurel will come at a very shocking price—one that will ultimately lead her to that towering mansion in the Catskills where terrifying, long-hidden truths will finally be revealed….

Have you read any of these? What are you reading or listening to now?

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