Book #45:
The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline (376 pages). I was excited to pick up this historical fiction novel about the real-life Siamese twins, Eng and Chang Bunker, who married and lived with two sisters in the mid-19th century in North Carolina. This is a sweeping family saga covering 50 years, which is in my reading wheelhouse. There are obviously some harder themes here such as slavery, racism, and the civil war. These themes, along with gender roles, are explored by sensitivity by the author and this book is very well-written. I could not put it down and I really enjoyed this quick read. 5 stars from me!
Book #46:
The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey(Length: 380 pages). This fun rom-com is the second in the Big Shot series and features best friends of the couple in the Fangirl Down book which I reviewed here. If you’re new to this series, I’d definitely start with the first book. In this one, Tallulah becomes an au pair for Burgess, a single dad to a 12-year-old daughter and a famous hockey player. The leads enjoy the same fun banter that this author is known for, and their chemistry leaps off the page. I enjoyed the glimpses of a professional hockey player’s life, and this is a good complement to the current Heated Rivalry and Off Campus shows on TV now. A fun beach read! 3.5 stars.
Book #47:
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (Length: 391 pages). This popular novel is about a “tradwife” who essentially goes viral online; the plot alternates between present day and flashbacks to where it all started. Present day the protagonist Natalie, wakes up in her same house with her same husband and children in the early 1900s, but the husband and children are “different” from the ones in modern day. Now, Natalie is living the same “tradwife” life she portrays online but without the modern conveniences that are hidden from her social media audience and without the two nannies and her social media assistant/producer. This is a very gritty and at times disturbing account of both timelines but is well-written and is propulsive. There are some negative reviews out there about the ending of this book, but I thought it wrapped up both timelines well. The tradwife life does NOT come across well, which I appreciated as a modern feminist. 4.5 stars
Book #48:
The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez (Length: 399 pages). I adore this author and her writing style. She writes banter so well and the chemistry between the two romantic leads is always believable, in my opinion. This book features many of the same characters from prior books as she’s known to include, and here Chris and Larissa are featured. Chris is a pharmacist and Larissa is working several part-time jobs trying to make ends meet, while dating Chris’s well-meaning best friend who is a bit of a clueless mess. The forbidden dating/lovers trope works well here, and I think the author treats Larissa’s anaphylactic peanut allergy with the appropriate care that it deserves. (Some reviews dinged this novel for this aspect of the book, but since I have a family member with the same allergy, I get the level of danger and I’m glad to see it showcased here). Bonus points for the cool animal, as always. Here’s it’s a rescue pup named Woofarine. 5 stars from me!
Book #49:
No One’s Coming by Kevin Hazzard (Length: 336 pages). This non-fiction book was recommended by one of my favorite book podcasts, Sarah’s Bookshelves Live. Phoenix Air is a private airplane service that no one’s heard of, but they’ve been a major player behind many events in our country’s history. Here, the author details the rescue of two American medical volunteers who are in the midst of a huge Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and who become infected themselves. With no one to care for them and the odds of rescue increasingly small, the US government asks this scrappy, intrepid band of pilots, engineers and medical crew to transport the 2 Americans back to the US before the 8-day timeline (organ failure and death) expires. This has never been done before, so you are getting a front row seat in this narrative nonfiction account of what boots on the ground truly looked like. A total nail-biter, excellent writing and an unforgettable plot. 5 huge stars from me. Would make an excellent Father’s Day gift, or a gift for anyone who enjoys an adventure/rescue account. This gave me the same feeling as reading Into Thin Air.
Lora Terrill 