Tag Archive: chic-lit



Baby Girl (Memory House, #4)Baby Girl by Bette Lee Crosby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the book that was at the bottom (oldest) of my TBR shelf. Because it is book 4 in the series, I went back to read the first 3 so I wouldn’t be lost. So really, I added 4 books to read one. And truth be known, any of these books could be read alone and still be interesting. There are other characters mentioned from other of Ms. Crosby’s works, but the names fall by the wayside. It reminds me of real life. When you meet someone new, they will mention other people in their associates. You don’t have to know them. Just stay open to get to know the person presented. Did that make sense?

I thought this would be one of my favorites. In fact, this is my least liked of the books. I didn’t like the main character much. But I stuck with it, and by the end, I think I understood her better. I was glad to move on to the next book. And to finally have freed space on the TBR. Which quickly got filled back up.

By the way, this is listed as Kindle Unlimited, if that helps you decide. And it is text-to-speech enabled. Enjoy.

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The Loft (Memory House, #2)The Loft by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a nice series. Though there is a bit of romance, what I like about each one is getting to know other people, characters, and philosophies, as well as the magic of life. They help us see how family grows, even those not blood-related.

After meeting the main characters in the first book, Memory House, we now watch their relationships grow or diminish. Life does as life does, boringly predictable with occasional accidents. And the characters live.

Bette Lee Crosby can tell a story. She keeps the reader involved in her world.

This copy was a Kindle Unlimited using text-to-speech. It was so good I had to pick up the next to get my Memory House fix.

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Memory House (Memory House, #1)Memory House

by Bette Lee Crosby

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my second reading of this book. I stand by my first review. Except I have since read so many books by Bette Lee Crosby, so I felt more at home as I read it. I had the fourth and fifth books of this series on my TBR shelf. So I decided I should start it again, so I wouldn’t be lost. I did enjoy this and raised the star rating because of it. I love the friendships developed here and the curiosities of the histories of things and people in life. We should all follow these nudges of wanting to know more. By the way, I read this through Kindle text-to-speech.
~~~

I was given this book by the author for an honest review.

I usually like Bette Lee Crosby’s stories. This one was no different. I liked the story. I liked the characters. I liked watching the main character grow into a better life than the one she had before.

Does this feel like it is leading somewhere? Well, it is. After getting to know the not-so-good current flame and watching it fade out, I was looking forward to getting to know the bicycle rider and the new flame. The book seems to assume that you remember these characters from other books. Um… no. I think the story would have done better had that assumption not ruled the day. It all seemed to end far too abruptly. For all the buildup to the magick the memory house contains, it just fizzled and left me wanting to throw the book away. I don’t feel that way often. But I just felt cheated.

Still, outside of the literary crash landing at the end, I liked the book. Maybe folks who don’t read 150 books a year would remember more characters from other books by the same author. I have trouble remembering my own name, so…

Anyway, there seem to be a lot of 5-star ratings, so maybe you would love it, too. Enjoy.

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A Spark of LightA Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the way of Jodi Picoult, this book hits many buttons yet tries to show more complex characters on both sides of the issue. And in this, she finds more than just two sides; there are variations on all sides, showing how difficult a theme she is covering.

The characters come to life. As in real life, there is good and bad in everyone. Good people making bad decisions, bad people doing good deeds. Making this more realistic than any book I’ve read on the subject.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book is the reverse timeline. It is even more confusing when an audiobook. Especially if you have technical issues with streaming or Audible. I think I understand why. If you place this story in a real timeline, there is no good outcome.

I was lucky to find this on Libby. By the way, Bahni Turpin and Jodi Picoult narrated seamlessly.

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My Grape Year (The Grape Series, #1)My Grape Year by Laura Bradbury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Who knew that a book about a foreign exchange teenager would have me in tears and longing to read the next in the series immediately? This book is the reason I read books. It took me to a place I hadn’t been before. It challenged a lot of preconceived notions. And I picked up a word or two more of French. That probably doesn’t count for much, but every little word counts, right?

Laura Bradbury can write an engaging book. When I found I couldn’t read it tiny bits at a time, I longed for more of the story than the time reading it took. I added Whispersynch, and the voice of Hope Newhouse (Narrator) made the story even better, especially since she pronounced the words text-to-speech or my own struggles with unfamiliar French words.

I don’t remember how I heard of the Grape books, and I hope it might be in connection with a movie or television series because this could be quite good in that medium, too. Anyway, I got the first Grape on Kindle Unlimited but decided to buy it and buy the Audio to go with it as I love the layers it adds to the written word.

I highly recommend this to teens and older. Even if 18 is 56 (yikes!) years ago, I still remember the angst of those years quite well, sometimes better than I remember where I put the keys, ya know?

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The BreakawayThe Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From my stationary bike, I felt a part of this story. It inspired me to hope that maybe I would find my way to getting a real bicycle that would work out here in the dirt road backcountry I find myself a part of.

This seems a gentle beach story at first. But soon, a person can see there are many subjects brought up from the character’s point of view. A person needs to see all the layers of the story involved. Some may not agree with the views presented, but grab what you may and enjoy what you can. Mostly enjoy this young woman’s life and journey as she finds her way to adulthood.

I was lucky to be able to read this Kindle edition through NetGalley. Thank you.

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The Messy Lives of Book PeopleThe Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun read. Katy Sobey (Narrator) kept the story interesting.

The thing that stands out in my memories of this read was how often, as an aspiring writer, the author captured the insecurities I have often felt.

Watching the main character, Liv Green, find her inner superhero was fun. Strength. Courage.

And another story about books. And writing. It was fun!

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The Lost and Found BookshopThe Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book would have been a perfect read if I only had a beach. Even so, it felt like You’ve Got Mail in a way. But the list of books mentioned throughout the book to check out was longer. The book series that contained Ballet Shoes wasn’t even mentioned.

What I loved was the multiple generations not just mentioned but given problems seen from both sides of the issues. And the story goes back generations and includes historical events of their times that affected the outcomes of the current characters.

I love how often San Francisco played in the story. I felt I got to travel just the tiniest bit.

The writing was fun, and the narrator, Emily Rankin, was great.

This is a book that I recommend for fun and leisure. Go for it!!!

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The SetupThe Setup by T.B. Markinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What have I said about mysteries and romances? Travel. In this romance, I got to go to London. Through the main character, Rory, I got to take a job in London and meet with an old friend who sets her up with a new friend.

This was another Kindle Unlimited, so it was a free, sort of, read. I read it in one night. Yes, that was with text-to-speech.

I found the main character okay. I like her new friend, Imogen, boring, but Rory loved her, so that’s not for me to care. I was in London.

Anything more gets into spoilers, and the book is too short for that. It was fun. Give it a try.

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Seventh HeavenSeventh Heaven by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love me an Alice Hoffman book. I don’t what happened here. Okay, maybe I can make the allowance that reading this with text-to-speech makes the confusion of characters even more perplexing. There was a whole neighborhood of people with problems.

Maybe when you can read the book as a paper product, you can see whose point of view that you are looking through. Books with a lot of characters are hard when the author doesn’t give you a straight forward warning like the chapter name (character’s name) or first word (character’s name) of the new chapter. Especially with TTS.

Having read a couple of reviews, I found some who felt the story started with promise but went downhill. I was bewildered during the first part of the book. I just rode along feeling I would soon catch up. Sure enough by the end, I did seem to care about a couple of the characters and felt I was knowing who was who.

This book takes place in the late 50s early 60s. I didn’t need the author to spell that out as I recognized it right away. I remembered people saying and gossiping about the things included in the story. It is my least favorite part of my life. So it was painful to live it again. Still, I wonder how folks who are not of that era see all of this. Older women may see this far differently than Gen X-ers. I need to go read some other reviews to see if age affects the read.

Alice Hoffman writes so well that even when I am lost I stick with the book until the end. I certainly think others might enjoy this book thoroughly.

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