The Blue Bistro Review

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The Blue Bistro ReviewElin Hilderbrand's, The Blue Bistro, was a fun book to read in the summer. The story takes place in Nantucket which is always a great location to read about in the summer months.
The Blue Bistro is a fine dining restaurant located directly on the beach of Nantucket. The author presents inticing images of Nantucket.
The owners of this magnificient restuarant are Thatcher Smith and Fiona Kemp. They are long-time friends from childhood and they have a powerful bond to one another. Thatcher, a very conflicted character in the novel, loves Fiona deeply, as a friend, but his love runs so deep that this unique friendship has interfered with his love interests. Girlfriends cannot compete with Thatcher and Fiona's friendship -- it can be isolating and infuriating to others. Fiona suffers, since childhood, with Cystic Fibrosis. An outsider cannot compete with Thatcher and Fiona's relationship nor with Fiona's illness.
Fiona, although small in stature, is a tough, strong-minded individual. Fiona is the exceptionally talented chef at the Blue Bistro and Thatcher is her business partner, and this is the final year for the restaurant. Fiona's health is suffering; she is on the list for a lung transplant, and she and Thatcher both need a rest.
Adrienne Dealy, escaping from a drug addicted boyfriend who stole her life savings, arrives in Nantucket with the sole purpose of making money and paying off her debts. Her mom died from Pancreatic Cancer when she was a young girl and she and her dad (a very loveable character) have been running ever since. Adrienne has been working all over the world in the hotel industry. She has made numerous poor choices in men, her last boyfriend being the last straw.
It is really Adrienne's story, even though there are many stories taking place at the same time. Adrienne is hired by Thatch to run the front of the restaurant. There also is a love interest between them, and Adrienne has to cope with this unusual friendship between Thatcher and Fiona.
There are many varied characters in the book. Each has a very interesting story to tell.
It was so interesting learning about the restaurant business and being part of all of the hustle and bustle. Additionally, the food is described so deliciously -- the reader longs for a sampling. The author clearly shows her love of Nantucket. You want to make the trip there, if only for the descriptions of the food and the sunsets on the beach.
I loved the book, but found the ending flat. There were story-lines left hanging. Adrienne needed to be given more of a voice. I don't need endings tied up in a bow, but it felt as though the story was leading to a big climatic ending, but it never materlized. It is hard to end a book that way.
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Reduced Circumstances: A Frank Cole Mystery (Frank Cole Mysteries) Review

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Reduced Circumstances: A Frank Cole Mystery (Frank Cole Mysteries) ReviewOn the advice of his attorney, former software company owner Frank Cole is once again working at near subsistence level in order to prevent the bankruptcy court from taking any additional assets. This time Frank is employed as a taxi dispatcher, a job which allows him to quietly contemplate his future even as his coworkers continually haze him. The quiet is shattered when he is approached first by a private detective and then by two thugs, all searching for the taxi customer who fled the scene of a drug bust. Spurred on by his own curiosity and encouraged by the P.I. Curtis Winslow, Frank begins hunting for the young man whose multiple identities lead back to his incarcerated grifter parents. Throw in a femme fatale, a drug lord, and the discovery that everyone lies, Frank soon finds himself up to his armpits in con artists and danger.
The sequel to the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery, Murder in Exile, Reduced Circumstances continues the adventures of a reluctant hero who uncovers a surprising talent for investigation while under the tutelage of experienced detectives. While the case may again be less than riveting, Frank and Winslow prove to be an engaging new team. A character-driven novel, it stumbles only in the neglect of Frank's girlfriend Beth Ann, previously a strong woman who in this outing appears only to (reasonably) nag Frank and his attorney for their slacker and unmotivated plan that keeps Frank barely working and living on rice and pasta.
This 211 page novel moves swiftly and the likable characters beg for better cases that will force Frank to step up his investigation skills. This engaging second novel by O'Neil reveals his growing talent and hopefully we can look forward to additional appearances by the witty, laid-back hero.
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Silver Girl: A Novel Review

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Silver Girl: A Novel ReviewMeredith Martin Delinn's world is crashing around her. She has been living the "high life" since her children were small. Her husband, Freddy, was one of those wonderful guys on Wall Street that got caught by the SEC (think Bernie Madoff) making off with his clients money and wonderful guy that he was, he dragged his wife and family down with him.
Freddy is now sitting in prison while Meredith and their son Leo are under investigation and filled with questions. Their son Carver never got into the family business so he is not facing the heat, but Leo has moved in with him and they can have no contact with their mother.
Meredith has lost everything except for some money she had of her own before she was married, but she has no home, no friends, can't talk to or see her sons, no social standing at all. She contacts her friend since childhood, Constance Flute. Their friendship fizzled out when they took all the money they had invested with Freddy out a couple of years ago. Connie's husband, Wolf, was dying and he just didn't think Freddy's numbers added up and thought he was doing something shady. But Meredith stood by her man and blamed Wolf's cancer for his poor judgement.
Connie is headed to Nantucket for the summer to try to heal from the devastating loss of not only her husband, but her daughter who is blaming her for not making her dad fight harder against the cancer that had returned. He chose his work over the treatments. He was an architect and he felt the work he was committed to needed to be completed and would be his legacy. Connie has called and left a voice mail every Sunday hoping that just once her daughter will pick up the phone or call her back.
Connie decides to take Meredith with her to Nantucket so they may also heal their friendship, but once the people of the island find out that Meredith is there, the friends become plagued with old and new troubles, adding even more stress in their lives at a place that was supposed to be healing, relaxing and full of happy memories. Can their friendship be restored? What kind of lives will they after when the summer ends? This is the quintessential summer beach read. It takes on the power of friendship, love, loss, forgiveness, trust, happiness, prosperity, misery, and bliss, along with an element of suspense. It is also very current due to the scandal that happened in New York with Bernie Madoff recently, like I said above, but it shows the other side, that maybe some of the spouses of the Wall Street Execs really could be oblivious to what was really happening. When they are bringing home that much money it is kind of taken for granted and the how and why is not always questioned. Unfortunately most of us are not in that position so I didn't trust Meredith for a good part of this story, which made it more of a mystery for me as the clues were uncovered and linked together.
I also loved the special ways history was remembered and tied to some very beautiful music. It made the story so much more real as they were songs I loved from my past. Just added a wonderful element that set the back stories and much more.
I had the privilege to read an review Hilderbrand's The Island last summer and declared it my Best General Fiction Read of 2010. Elin Hilderbrand has become one of my favorite authors and I can't wait to read her entire back list and anything she writes in the future.
The tagline of this blog is "Escape With A Good Book". This is the perfect "escape" book!! I did over the weekend and am so glad I did. Get yours today, fix a nice pitcher of lemonade, splash on a little sunscreen and hit the beach, deck chair, or porch swing and sit back and enjoy this wonderful story.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Reagan Arthur Books, Little Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."Silver Girl: A Novel Overview

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Killing Kate: A Novel Review

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Killing Kate: A Novel ReviewThe headline above is an old Edward Gorey quote that I couldn't resist using. No, the eponymous Kate of Julie Kramer's fourth Riley Spartz mystery was actually bludgeoned with a baseball bat. So close. Kate's death basically opens the novel, and straight off the reader learns that she is the fourth victim of a serial killer. The authorities are not yet aware of this fact.
Local news reporter Riley has been lying off the violent crimes lately, since she had been making more news than covering it. But hearing the familiar address of this homicide, she grabs it before anyone can object. And her memory is correct. The crime happened at a house she once knew well. It was the home of her former college roommate, Laura, and the victim is Laura's younger sister, Kate. Kramer has the mechanics of creating suspense down pat. She keeps readers turning pages, ending chapters with lines like: "I didn't know yet that Kate had led a secret life, and that her secret did not die with her."
Riley and Laura, once the closest of friends, had split in a rift more than a decade ago. But this tragedy paves the way to an uneasy reconciliation. Investigative reporter that she is, Riley, of course, becomes far too involved in the hunt for this killer. As always, there's a "b" story in the novel involving an animal story her crazy news director wants her to cover. And the third narrative thread is Riley's long distance relationship with Nick Garnett.
I have outlined several things I like about this series in past reviews. I find Riley to be an immensely likable character with a distinctive voice. Reading each novel feels like visiting with an old friend. Also, I love the television news setting. I feel like I'm getting the inside scoop with each novel, and given the author's background, I guess I am. I can't watch a promo for the 11:00pm news with the same eyes after reading one of these books. It's fascinating! Plus, I like that while being fairly realistic, the novels aren't unnecessarily graphic. In other words, there's not too much sex and violence graphically depicted--which isn't to say there's none, but it's left more to the imagination.
One thing that was bugging me a little in this book was the relationship between Riley and Nick. There's always conflict between them, and conflict is what makes a great novel. But their relationship dynamics seemed a bit too simplistic and surface level. I guess four novels in, I'd hope for a little more depth there. But Kramer must be doing something right, because I'm always rooting for the two of them.
I don't know that I'd describe Killing Kate as a cozy mystery, but it's not entirely dissimilar. I bring this up, because while the mystery itself should not be predictable, there's a certain tone to these stories that is. Therefore, I have to tell you that the end of this novel shocked the hell out of me. And I LOVED it. Surprises are good. I have NO idea where this series is going next, but I will be the first in line to find out! Way to go, Julie Kramer!Killing Kate: A Novel Overview

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Northwest Corner: A Novel Review

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Northwest Corner: A Novel ReviewI did a quick second reading of Reservation Road prior to reading Northwest Corner. While it's not strictly necessary, I do recommend doing so if you have the time and inclination. It really enhanced my enjoyment of Northwest Corner to have the characters fresh in my mind and compare the past with the present.
When we last saw Sam Arno in Reservation Road, he was a sleepy boy of ten, asking his dad if they could go sledding later. He hadn't a clue that his life would change forever on that day.
Now Sam is a quiet, confused, surly 22-year-old UConn baseball star. His anger boils over one night in a bar, and he commits a savage act of violence. Fearing arrest, he flees to Southern California, seeking the father he hasn't seen or spoken to in twelve years. His father Dwight has made a fresh start in Santa Barbara, where no one knows about the hit-and-run death of Josh Learner all those years ago.
Sam's crisis gives us a chance to revisit some of Reservation Road's central characters and see the long-term effects of what happened twelve years ago. We get the story through the perspectives of five characters, with Dwight Arno's being the central, first-person narrative. Members of the Learner family are represented, but Northwest Corner is largely the story of what used to be the Arno family: Sam, Dwight, and his ex-wife Ruth. I found Ruth to be the most admirable character, which is quite a shift from the way I viewed her in Reservation Road. She has a lot of history to overcome, and she gives Dwight more grace than he deserves. Ruth has the additional burden of handling a serious health crisis alone, and she does so with strength and dignity.
Schwartz doesn't hit you in the face with what you're supposed to get from the book. These are damaged people doing what humans do. It's up to you to decide how well they've handled their pain, and what's possible for them in the future. If you have wounds of your own, always know where your tissues are. You may find yourself a little weepy. There are moments of clarity that will resonate with your experiences and, if you're lucky, show you a new way of seeing them.
This novel has greater complexity in both content and sentence structure than Reservation Road. The change in writing style does require some adjustment. For me, this wasn't a difficult adjustment to make, and I read Northwest Corner in about two days. (4.5 stars)
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Coming Up for Air Review

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Coming Up for Air Review[Kirkus awarded this book a starred review, a rating with which I completely agree.] "Coming Up for Air" catapults Patti Callahan Henry to Anne Rivers Siddons' level. That's walking in some tall cotton for any contemporary Southern writer. As I read "Air," I consistently and favorably found myself comparing it to some of Siddons' best novels, "Burnt Mountain" notwithstanding. Both writers demonstrate a similar love for the Deep South and share a lust for life's whimsies, particularly in nature. Both understand the convoluted mazes that are love and mother/daughter and male/female relationships. Both also appear to hold sacred the belief that the South's tumultuous 1960s should not be forgotten.
Set primarily in both Buckhead/Atlanta,GA, and in fictional Bayside, AL, which is a thinly disguised Fairhope on Mobile Bay, this story involves around Lillian "Ellie" Calvin, the female protagonist. The story includes: a manipulative husband with anger management issues and an opportunity to revive lost love; the unexpected death of her controlling mother who apparently died with a big secret that dates to the 1960s; empty nest syndrome after Ellie's daughter goes away to college; and a near-magical Summer House on Mobile Bay. It is whispered that those who stay there have a truth revealed and are forever changed. If Ellie stays there, will her truth be revealed, and will she be forever changed? Will she discover a truth about her mother that is better left a secret? Patti Henry beautifully reveals the answers in her luminous novel.
Others have said this is Henry's best works. She has previously had seven books on the NYT best seller list. "Coming Up for Air" is already among my all-time favorites. It is easily the best book I've read since "The Help" two years ago. This is one of those books you close, grab your cell, and call your best friend to share all your favorite parts.
Fair disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy from St. Martin's Press. Brief parts of the above appeared in my lengthy review published August 14, 2011, in the Mobile (AL) Press-Register. ~BBLComing Up for Air Overview

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