A Walk in the Park

Lara Carson has just returned home to Bath after being away for eighteen years and she has a big secret.

Evie is thrilled Lara is back, they were best friends years ago and Lara is just in time to see Evie get married. But will Evie marry Joel?

Flynn Erksine was Lara’s long-ago boyfriend and he has never forgotten her. Will he be able to forgive her when her secret is revealed?

A Walk in the Park is Jill Mansell’s latest and focuses on second chances. As always in a Mansell novel, it is filled with a wonderful cast of supporting characters.

The book focuses on Lara, home to Bath after eighteen years, the secret she’s been keeping and her relationship with Flynn.

At first I thought Lara is so self-righteous, when she reveals her secret to Flynn and tries to turn the tables and be angry at him. I felt he had every right to feel and say what he did. She does eventually grow on me, but it took me some time to get past what I thought of as her un-justified anger.

I always love the secondary characters in Mansell’s books and A Walk in the Park was no exception. I just loved Evie and her story.  Evie is open and honest, what you see is what you get.  After her disastrous almost wedding, I loved the evolution of her character, she wasn’t what I expected and she did things I didn’t expect. I really liked Evie and I loved how her story played out.

The problem I usually find in Mansell’s books is the cast of secondary characters takes away from the main characters and their story. I loved all of these characters and their stories but I feel Lara and Flynn’s story was left wanting. They have a shared history and eighteen years to catch up on. I am willing to believe they never got over each other and they have something that connects them now but they needed more time to re-connect.

Overall, I did really enjoy A Walk in the Park and any Mansell fan will appreciate this latest. 

Book Club Pick

I've been on a Dennis Lehane kick for awhile now and I've spent time devouring his books and loving them so much so what better book to choose for November than Lehane's latest.

Live by Night is the second in a slated trilogy, the first book being Any Given Day, which I loved to pieces. This second novel focuses on Joe Coughlin, the youngest brother.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
BOSTON, 1926. The '20s are roaring. Liquor is flowing, bullets are flying, and one man sets out to make his mark on the world.

Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston police captain, has long since turned his back on his strict and proper upbringing. Now having graduated from a childhood of petty theft to a career in the pay of the city’s most fearsome mobsters, Joe enjoys the spoils, thrills, and notoriety of being an outlaw.

But life on the dark side carries a heavy price. In a time when ruthless men of ambition, armed with cash, illegal booze, and guns, battle for control, no one—neither family nor friend, enemy nor lover—can be trusted. Beyond money and power, even the threat of prison, one fate seems most likely for men like Joe: an early death. But until that day, he and his friends are determined to live life to the hilt.

Joe embarks on a dizzying journey up the ladder of organized crime that takes him from the flash of Jazz Age Boston to the sensual shimmer of Tampa’s Latin Quarter to the sizzling streets of Cuba. Live by Night is a riveting epic layered with a diverse cast of loyal friends and callous enemies, tough rumrunners and sultry femmes fatales, Bible-quoting evangelists and cruel Klansmen, all battling for survival and their piece of the American dream. At once a sweeping love story and a compelling saga of revenge, it is a spellbinding tour de force of betrayal and redemption, music and murder, that brings fully to life a bygone era when sin was cause for celebration and vice was a national virtue

Quote of the Day

“I love books, by the way, way more than movies. Movies tell you what to think. A good book lets you choose a few thoughts for yourself. Movies show you the pink house. A good book tells you there's a pink house and lets you paint some of the finishing touches, maybe choose the roof style,park your own car out front. ” 
― Karen Marie Moning, Darkfever

Exciting News

What a day. I was already on a book high with two exciting new releases out today (can't wait for a late night trip to the book store!) and now I just read even more exciting news - Starz has signed the deal to make the Outlander series a TV show!

If you read my blog you know Outlander is my all-time favorite series. I am obsessed with these books so I am thrilled I will be able to watch Jamie and Claire's story unfold on my tv (and make my husband watch as well!).

It's still a long way from being made and I hope the writer does justice to this amazing story not to mention I believe casting is crucial to making this work for the millions of fans out there with definite ideas on Jamie and Claire's appearance. My fingers are crossed but I am super excited.

You can read the full story here courtesy of Deadline.

New Releases

There is nothing better than a Tuesday of new book releases to a book lover and today is an exciting day for me. Two of my favorite romance authors are releasing the final book in their trilogies:

The Perfect Hope is the third book in the Inn Boonsboro trilogy by Nora Roberts and a book I've been waiting to get my hands on for months. I have a feeling Hope and Ryder's story is going to be the best in the trilogy. 

Synopsis from Goodreads:
The Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother are breathing new life into the town of Boonsboro, Maryland, by restoring its historic hotel. And they’re finding their own lives revamped by love. This is Ryder’s story... Ryder is the hardest Montgomery brother to figure out — with a tough-as-nails outside and possibly nothing too soft underneath. He’s surly and unsociable, but when he straps on a tool belt, no woman can resist his sexy swagger. Except apparently Hope Beaumont, the innkeeper of his own Inn BoonsBoro. And though the Inn is running smoothly, thanks to Hope’s experience and unerring instincts, her big-city past is about to make an unwelcome — and embarrassing — appearance. Seeing Hope vulnerable stirs up Ryder’s emotions and makes him realize that while Hope may not be perfect, she just might be perfect for him..



Rescue My Heart is the final book in the Animal Magnetism trilogy by Jill Shalvis. The first two books were great and I expect nothing less from Adam's story.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
After a tragic stint in the National Guards, Adam Connelly returns to Idaho and to Belle Haven, the animal shelter he owns with his brothers. All Adam wants is to be alone. Then he opens the door to the past—the woman whose heart he once broke. Still gorgeous, still tough-as-nails, but this time, unusually vulnerable.

Holly Reid learned the hard way to never depend on a man for anything. Now, of all men, it’s the last one she wants to see, and the only one she needs. Her father has gone missing in the Bitterroot Mountains and she could use someone with tracking skills to help find him.

For Holly and Adam, each with their ghosts, a trek this desperate, this unpredictable, and this intimate, will have its share of risks—including opening their hearts one more time.

The Witness

Elizabeth Fitch’s life has been designed and laid out for her since she was a child. She’s been a model daughter and student, never straying from her mother’s aspirations for her- until a moment of teenage rebellion that will have devastating consequences for Elizabeth and change her life forever.

Twelve years later Abigail Lowery lives a quiet, solitary life in a small town in the Ozarks. She is a freelance computer programmer and security designer and she keeps her own house a fortress, backed up by an arsenal and her dog.

Brooks Gleason loves puzzles and Abigail is a puzzle that intrigues him. He figures she’s running from something and he’s determined to find out her secrets and get to know the quiet beauty.

The Witness started slow for me and took me a little while to get into but eventually it picked up the pace and I was hooked. I loved Abigail from the beginning. She is a socially awkward genius and handles conversations and situations quite literally. She reminded me of the character Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory. She was endearing and sweet with a quiet determination and a big heart.

Brooks was the typical hero; Abigail catches his eye and he is snared. He wants to know more and once she opens her door to him, he falls the rest of the way. He is patient and caring with Abigail and he makes it clear he knows she’s running from something but he gives her the time and space she needs to trust him with her secrets. Brooks is loyal and fiercely protective of those he loves and when he figures out he loves Abigail, there is no stopping him until she is safe again.

The Witness is a romantic suspense and while the beginning of the novel and the break at part one is suspenseful, I spent the rest of the book waiting for the standoff with the bad guys and in the end it wasn’t much of a climax. It was suspenseful in a way but Abigail was so prepared for every eventuality, but there were a few turns I didn’t expect.

I really enjoyed The Witness. I think Nora has created one of her most original characters with Abigail and I loved her slow descent into love and normalcy. Brooks was a genre mainstay and while I liked him, I think Abigail overshadowed him.  But there’s a reason Nora is a romance superstar, The Witness was her 200^th book. Any Nora fan will love this latest.

Quote of the Day

“When the day shall come that we do part," he said softly, and turned to look at me, "if my last words are not 'I love you'-ye'll ken it was because I didna have time.” 
― Diana Gabaldon