The Leftover Woman

by Jean Kwok

This family drama with a mystery kept me reading until the end. When Jasmine Yang escapes from her small village in China and her brutal marriage she goes to New York City in search of her daughter that she was told had died at birth. China has a “one child policy” and because the baby was a girl her husband sold her to a couple in the US. Jasmine is in New York City illegally and is penniless but desperate to find her daughter, When she meets well-to-do Rebecca Whitney who has adopted her daughter she is torn because Rebecca has hired a Chinese nanny to care for the child and it is obvious that she is loved and well cared for. However, there is more to this story and as twists and secrets are revealed the reader will be completely caught up in this story.

The Leftover Woman was published on Octobe 10th and would be a great book for a book club to discuss. Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

West Heart Kill

by Dann McDorman

West Heart Kill is a completely original mystery set in a remote hunting lodge. Adam McAnnis joins his old college friend at his family home in the exclusive West Heart Kill enclave. As Adam gets to know the other members of the club he begins to see some cracks in the facade of this once great community. Tensions are palpable as he discovers that some members want to sell the club because they need the money but others are against it. Adam is a private investigator but no one knows who hired him or why he is investigating the club. When there is a murder and then another murder everyone becomes a suspect even the private investigator and the reader becomes part of the story, too.

The writing style is unusual as it often addresses the reader. It took me awhile to get into this mystery but I stayed with it and I am glad I did. The twists and turns and the ending will surprise you. If you like unusual, atmospheric mysteries, give West Heart Kill a try.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy

The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard

by Natasha Lester

Focusing on three generations of strong women and set in the fashion world, The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard is another wonderful historical fiction novel from Australian writer, Natasha Lester.

Blythe Bricard feels overwhelmed by the legacy of her grandmother and mother. In 1917 her grandmother, Mizza, was known as the muse of the famous designer, Christian Dior. In the 1970’s her mother, Astrid Bricard and father Hawk Jones were one of the most famous couples on the New York City fashion scene. But on the eve of a big fashion competition between American and French designers at the Palace of Versailles, Astrid disappeared.

Blythe who is also a very talented designer wants to make her mark in the fashion world but how can she do that without being compared to her mother and grandmother and what happened to her mother, Astrid?

The reader is drawn into the different time periods with the Paris fashion houses, war in France, the disco scene in New York City in the 1970’s and the fabulous clothes from both time periods. We can feel the struggle women faced trying to succeed in the fashion world that was dominated by men. Some of the book is based on true events and the author also brought in real life characters to add to the story. The mystery of what happened to Astrid was intriguing, too. I couldn’t wait to see if we find out what happened to her.

Thanks to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this book. The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard was published in the US on January 30, 2024

The Roaring Days of Zora Lily

   by Noelle Salazar

In present day, Sylvie, a young fashion conservator, is putting together a display of costumes for the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The display will cover costumes from the 1920s to the present. As she is putting a dress on a mannequin that was supposedly worn by Greta Garbo, she notices that underneath the label is another label that reads Zora Lily. Immediately Sylvie is intrigued and begins a search to find out who Zora Lily was.

The story then goes to 1920s Seattle where Zora Hough, a young seamstress, is working to help support her poor family. Zora wants to open her own dress shop but doesn’t have the funds to do this. When her best friend gets a job in California on a movie as a dancer, she convinces Zora to go with her to work on costumes for the movies.

Zora tales a leap of faith and goes with her but things don’t work out exactly as she thought they would. Filled with speakeasys, fashion, friendship and family ties, The Roaring Days of Zora Lily will captivate you and keep you turning the pages to see what Sylvie finds and how the story ends.

The New Couple in 5B

   by Lisa Unger

Rosie and Chad Lowan are a young New York City couple in love but struggling financially. Chad is an actor and they are sure that his big break will come soon. Rosie is a writer who has had one book published. It was critically acclaimed but she is having trouble with her new book. When Chad’s uncle dies and leaves them his extremely expensive Murray Hill apartment, Chad is thrilled but Rosie isn’t sure. The Windemere has a dark past where gruesome murders have taken place but the older people in the building are so welcoming that Rosie puts aside her concerns and they move in. However, something isn’t right. Rosie sees images of dead people, the doorman is always on duty, there are cameras everywhere and a speaker in their apartment. Is the doorman listening to them in their apartment? Something isn’t quite right with Chad either or is Rosie imagining it? When a neighbor and others connected to them begin to die, they find themselves in the middle and under scrutiny by the police but can Rosie discover what is going on before it is too late? I really enjoyed this book and had trouble putting it down.

The New Couple in 5B was published on March 5, 2024. Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for a fair review.

The House on Biscayne Bay

by Chanel Cleeton

This dual timeline, atmospheric novel pulled me right in and I couldn’t stop reading it. Beginning in 1918 after the Great War people flocked to Florida to buy property. When Robert gives his wife, Anna, a gift of a mansion in Florida, she is less than pleased. She doesn’t want to leave New York and move to Florida but Robert is obsessed with building this house and is spending an enormous amount of money to do it. He named it Marbrisa. On the night of their housewarming party, a young woman is seen arguing with Robert and later drowns. The police suspect fowl play and Anna is confused and frightened wondering what is going on with Robert. Did he know this young woman?

In 1940, Carmen Acosta leaves Havana after the death of her parents to move to Miami to stay with her sister and her husband who now own Marbrisa. Asher has control of Carmen’s inheritance until she is of age to receive it and she is hoping she can convince him to give it to her early. But when she arrives in Miami things are strained between her and her sister, Caroline, and her sister and husband are having problems too. Strange things begin to happen and then another death occurs. Is the house cursed? If you liked Rebecca and atmospheric novels with suspense and a gothic twist, you will love The House on Biscayne Bay.

It will be published on April 2, 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advanced reading copy.

All The Summers In Between

by Brooke Lea Foster

In 1967, Thea finds a lost dog and goes house to house in East Hampton to try and find the owner. When she knocks on the door of an expensive mansion, she meets Margo. Although Thea is from a poor family the two girls instantly bond and become fast friends. Thea works at the local record shop and soon Margot is working there, too. Margo is impulsive, creative and a free spirit. Thea is responsible for looking after her little sister because their mother has died and her step father expects her to help. Meeting Margo brings fun into her life. However, after a devastating event the girls part.

Ten years later, Margo shows up in Thea’s life again. She is in trouble and needs help. Thea is now married and a mother but she feels unfulfilled. Seeing Margo again reignites all of the ambition and feelings she had when they were best friends but she has trust issues with Margo. What is really going on and why has she suddenly come back into her life after all those years?

Told in alternating timelines with lots of musical references, All The Summers In Between is a story of friendship, marriage, music and how far we will go to help a friend, despite the danger. I have read Brooke Lea Foster’s previous two books Summer Darlings and On Gin Lane and enjoyed them, as well.

All The Summers In Between will be published on June 4, 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced Reading copy.

The Girls We Sent Away

by Meagan Church

Lorraine Delford has it all: an upstanding family in North Carolina, she is expected to be the first female valedictorian of her senior class, she has a nice boyfriend, friends and wants to be an astronaut. However, all of that changes after one night with her boyfriend before he heads off to college leaves her pregnant. Having a baby out of wedlock is a shameful thing in 1960’s North Carolina and her parents will do anything to hide this from their neighbor and save the family’s reputation.

Lorraine is sent to a maternity home for wayward girls. The home has strict rules and only first names can be used and no personal history can be shared. The girls are pressured into signing away their parental rights and given etiquette lessons so that they can leave and go back to their old lives, marry, run a household and forget this ever happened.

This book was well written and pulled me right in to the story and the time period. Lorraine is a naive, likeable teenager who made a mistake, paid a high price by being isolated from her family, shamed and she lost everything she had worked for academically. Pregnant teens could not return to school.

The Girls We Sent Away was published on March 5, 2024. Thanks to NeGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced reading copy.

Last House

by Jessica Shattuck

I really enjoyed The Women in The Castle by Jessica Shattuck so when I read the description of her newest book, I was anxious to read it. Last House is a sweeping family saga about Nick and Bet Taylor and their family that expands over almost eighty years.

Nick and Bet meet right before he is sent to war and marry when he returns. Bet wants to get an PhD but gives up her ambition to raise their two children, Katherine and Harry. Nick is an attorney working for Standard Oil in 1953 and now wealthy. He travels to Iran frequently for work so the couple buy a house in rural Vermont called Last House where they retreat with their children to escape the pressures of life and spend summers together. Family is everything to Nick but as the children grow older they begin to question their father’s work. Katherine takes a job as a writer for a radical newspaper and begins to join protests and the rebelliousness of 1968. Harry is a gentle soul who loves nature and his family but soon he is caught up in the rebelliousness of the time, too, with tragic results.

This is a well written family saga with well defined characters and a strong sense of time and place. Last House will be published on May 14, 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

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