Peeking Between the Pages

...escape into the pages of a good book

Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune (Audiobook)

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Such a great title for this book!  I was really excited to see a new Carley Fortune book and of course had to listen to it right away. Once again she doesn’t disappoint with Our Perfect Storm – a friends to lovers romance that had me devouring the pages. 

Frankie is getting married. It’s the weekend of her wedding and the only thing missing is her best friend George. They’ve been best friends since they were eight years old and Frankie would be heartbroken to get married without him there as her best man. Her dreams come true when George shows up and the evening is one of pure bliss. Frankie is floating on a cloud until the next morning when she wakes up to find that her fiancé has dumped her leaving only a note. She’s devastated. He won’t answer her calls or texts and finally she decides to return home to her parents. She finds out that her finance wanted her to go on the honeymoon to Tofino that they had planned and George thinks it would be a good idea for her to get away from it all so she agrees to go along with George. 

The setting of this book was amazing and so perfect for a romance to bloom. Being Canadian I also love books taking place in Canada and while I’ve never been to Tofino, I definitely want to go now. Frankie and George have loved each other since forever but both just couldn’t be straight with each other and say so.  They didn’t want to ruin their friendship which actually makes sense to me. As the story unfolds and the romance heats up, long buried feelings and secrets come to light. I absolutely love friends to lovers stories and seeing Frankie and George finally wake up to each other’s feelings was great. 

I listened to the audiobook which is read by AJ Bridel and Jack Copland. What a great job by these two. They had me walking the beaches and watching the whales with Frankie and George and feeling all the tingly emotions a good romance will leave you with. 

Our Perfect Storm was a great listen for me – I loved every minute. There are some explicit scenes and language so take care if that isn’t your thing. It is mine and I loved it. Be sure to pick up a copy. This is the perfect summer read!

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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Sundays with Jack

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Awwww mom I wasn’t thinking about chewing your kindle case… I was just going to put the kindle back in for you 🐾❤️

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there – human or fur baby. My mom has been gone several years now but I miss her just as much as I did the day she left. I thought I’d post a picture from back in her younger years. I think she was about fifteen years old in this one.

Hope you all have a wonderful day no matter how you’re spending it. Mine will be quiet and spent honouring my mama ❤️.

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How the Story Goes by Andrew Forrester

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How the Story Goes is the debut novel from Andrew Forrester. It’s a story of grief and loss, but also one of hope and new beginnings. I felt such a strong connection to both the main and side characters that I came away feeling like I truly knew them, which is something I always love in a story.

Whit, an author, loses his wife Helen—herself a famous children’s author—to cancer. He is left raising his eight-year-old daughter, who is grieving, while also facing what he calls the monumental task of finishing the final book in his wife’s beloved fantasy series. Whit is deep in his grief and unable to write his own books, let alone hers. As the deadline looms, he becomes increasingly desperate. When he meets Merritt, things begin to shift. Merritt has returned home after a difficult breakup and works at a local bookstore, where Whit discovers she is a devoted superfan of Helen’s books. As luck would have it, she’s also a writer, and she agrees to help him complete the final installment. What follows is a story of two people, both carrying their own pain, slowly beginning to open up through writing and through each other. Of course, things don’t stay simple, and when Whit learns something about Helen’s wishes, everything is thrown into turmoil.

This story really touched me. Anyone who has experienced grief and loss will likely connect with Whit. He’s such a likeable character, just trying to do his best. Watching him slowly come out of his shell and begin to navigate life—and love—again was genuinely heartwarming. I’ll admit there were moments I wanted to shake him a little when he kept second-guessing himself with Merritt, but it also felt very real. Merritt was just as easy to like. After a damaging relationship that upended her life, it was nice to see her begin to trust again and open herself to the possibility of something new.

I also really appreciated the side characters in this novel. They stood out in a way that doesn’t always happen for me. Whit’s sister was quite funny, and his writing friend was a really supportive presence as he worked through his grief.

At its heart, How the Story Goes is a story about hope. From the first page, I was pulled in, and I genuinely felt a sense of sadness when I reached the end and had to leave these characters behind. It’s the kind of novel you want to sink into your favorite chair with and truly savor.

Review copy provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own. Previously published on The Gloss.

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Five by Ilona Bannister (Audiobook)

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Five by Ilona Bannister hits with a bang before you even get started reading with – ‘Five lives. Four will live – one will die.’ That got my attention instantly. What follows is a unique story where you know one person will die but before they do we are invited to look into their personal lives. We become invested in their lives and then we are left to decide who we think is more deserving of the death that is to come.

The five people – one is an old woman who is none too friendly, another is a young woman with a young child that she can’t control. There is a young man struggling with life and finally a businessman. Who will die? I really had no clue as I kept bouncing back and forth with all of them. I finally had more of an idea towards the end but still I wouldn’t have been surprised had it been someone else.

This novel is brilliant in its execution. I listened to the audiobook which was excellent. The narrators – Clare Corbett, George Naylor, Juliet Stevenson, Kristin Atherton, Marlowe Chan Reeves, and Theo Solomon – do an amazing of not only bringing the characters to life, but also the train station itself. I loved that they had boarding or arrival announcements made to break up the stories. The audio production is so well done!

I loved this book. It is unique and different. It was an addictive listen for me and I finished it in a day. I think it would make an excellent bookclub pick as well with many themes to discuss such as grief, loss, motherhood, and addiction. Highly recommended!

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

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I really enjoyed delving into the history of Abigail Adams as I didn’t know much about her or of the impact she had on history. As expected the research done by the authors is meticulous. Even more it is written in a way that brings Abigail to life for the reader and the story released May 5 comes just in time for the 250th Anniversary of the birth of the United States.

Abigail Adams was wife to one president and a mother to another one. She was such a strong woman and very much ahead of her time. While she may not have been recognized at the time as such, she was a part of many of the decisions made that shaped the country. I admired how willing she was to sacrifice so much of herself to her husband and family, not to mention all the countless others she helped. She did all of this while also challenging the very laws meant to exclude women from so much. Her marriage and loyalty to her husband John Adams was amazing. The love they had for each other spanned decades despite the long separations and distance as John was required to be away so often. As a mother she was fiercely protective of her children. I came away from this story so deeply awed of this brilliant woman.

At the end of the novel the authors tell us what was real and what wasn’t and I really appreciated that. I learned so much from this novel and that’s what I love about historical fiction. I have been a fan of Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie for many years and once again they have given us a fascinating and beautifully written novel. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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Summer State of Mind by Kristy Woodson Harvey

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I just love escaping into the pages of one of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s books. They are like comfort reads for me. Summer State of Mind was a great visit to Cape Carolina to meet some lovely people.

Daisy, a NICU nurse, heads to Cape Carolina after experiencing a very traumatic day at her job. She’s still working as a NICU nurse, just at a slower pace or so she had hoped. However on her first day in comes Mason, the high school baseball coach, with a baby that had been left in a dumpster. Things like this don’t happen in Cape Carolina so everyone is abuzz. Daisy is immediately drawn to this baby girl to the point of wanting to foster her. As Daisy grows closer to the baby and to Mason, life changing discoveries come to light that could very well shatter the community.

This story is full of such great characters. I loved Daisy and how caring she was even in her own broken state and Mason was a man’s-man but a likeable one. Then we have Mason’s family, especially Aunt Tilley (she was what one might call the batty Aunty), who were all characters you could see yourself sitting down to dinner with. As the story unfolded I found myself getting ever deeper in these character’s lives. I laughed and cried and there is nothing better than a story that makes you feel so many emotions.

I really enjoyed spending a few hours in this heartwarming novel. Summer State of Mind is the perfect summer read!

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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