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Review – The New Husband – D.J. Palmer

01 Jun

the new husbandThe New Husband
Author: D.J. Palmer
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Description:
What makes Simon Fitch so perfect?
-He knows all her favorite foods, music, and movies.
-Her son adores him. He was there when she needed him most.
-He anticipates her every need.
-He would never betray her like her first husband.

The perfect husband. He checks all the boxes.

The question is, why?

Nina Garrity learned the hard way that her missing husband, Glen, had been leading a double life with another woman. But with Glen gone―presumably drowned while fishing on his boat―she couldn’t confront him about the affair or find closure to the life he blew apart.

Now, a year and a half later, Nina has found love again and hopes she can put her shattered world back together. Simon, a widower still grieving the death of his first wife, thinks he has found his dream girl in Nina, and his charm and affections help break through to a heart hardened by betrayal. Nina’s teenage son, Connor, embraces Simon as the father he wishes his dad could have been, while her friends see a different side to him, and they aren’t afraid to use the word obsession.

Nina works hard to bridge the divide that’s come between her daughter and Simon. She wants so badly to believe her life is finally getting back on track, but she’ll soon discover that the greatest danger to herself and her children are the lies people tell themselves.

Review:
After my enjoyment of Saving Meghan (see review HERE), I was honestly worried when i was offered the chance to review The New Husband on whether it could keep it on the edge of my seat like Saving Meghan did. But to start of, I would caveat that this book should have some kind of trigger warning for abuse – just as a heads up. there were a few places that I felt uncomfortable and I’ve never been in that kind of situation.

While I found this one to be must more in your face with the whole done it (I mean, i had a pretty solid idea of who the bad guy was fairly early on) but seeing all the psychological twists…at one stage I tweeted that the book was a total mindfuck – and it was. Its honestly hard to write a good review without divulging spoilers and I hate doing that.

I will admit that through most of the book Nina kind of annoyed me – I know that Simon was a psycho and all that but it seems like she had no personality even with her first husband and now was just trying to find herself. Her daughter was by far the more interesting of the 3 characters you get to know in the Garrity family – and I really liked her friend (and of course, the dog made the story all the more enjoyable like dogs do). My only other comment will be that there was a bit of a dangling thread to simon’s story that i would have loved to have seen tied up – but that makes me wonder if there is another story coming…

 
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Posted by on June 1, 2020 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review – The Lover’s Portrait – Jennifer S. Alderson

30 May

the lover's portraitThe Lover’s Portrait
Author: Jennifer S. Alderson
Series: #1 in the Zelda Richardson Mystery series
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Description:
When a Dutch art dealer hides the stock from his gallery – rather than turn it over to his Nazi blackmailer – he pays with his life, leaving a treasure trove of modern masterpieces buried somewhere in Amsterdam, presumably lost forever. That is, until American art history student Zelda Richardson sticks her nose in.

After studying for a year in the Netherlands, Zelda scores an internship at the prestigious Amsterdam Historical Museum, where she works on an exhibition of paintings and sculptures once stolen by the Nazis, lying unclaimed in Dutch museum depots almost seventy years later.

When two women claim the same painting, the portrait of a young girl entitled Irises, Zelda is tasked with investigating the painting’s history and soon finds evidence that one of the two women must be lying about her past. Before she can figure out which one it is and why, Zelda learns about the Dutch art dealer’s concealed collection. And that Irises is the key to finding it.

Her discoveries make her a target of someone willing to steal – and even kill – to find the missing paintings. As the list of suspects grows, Zelda realizes she has to track down the lost collection and unmask a killer if she wants to survive.

Review:
Sometimes when you pick up a random book for a reading challenge (in this instance, I needed a book that was set primarily in Netherlands), you discover a gem. The Lover’s Portrait is one of those gem’s – i’d honestly never even heard of the author and I came by it searching fiction and Netherlands on Amazon (and then narrowing down to kindle unlimited books). I’ve studied the holocaust on and off over the years and know about the looting and stealing of artwork that occurred in many of the Nazi occupied countries – so a mystery about discovering what happened to a collection of paintings was something that caught my eye and i borrowed it. And then it sat on my kindle – i think for maybe close to a month before I actually picked up my kindle and read it.

I was pretty much sucked into Zelda’s story right away – she kind of reminded me of myself at times (not that i have any experience with museum’s – but rather the bull in a china shop get right to the problem and sometimes going a bit too far). I thought the author did a good job of writing a character who was kind of out of place in society as she isn’t native dutch but also trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her lift (and waiting to find out if she was accepted in a master’s program in museum studies). The mystery in and of itself was solid – i had kind of an inkling about 1/2 way through of who the bad guy(s) were but at times, the author left me questioning whether I was right or not (which to me is the sign of a good mystery). I liked how she alternated between WW2 Amsterdam and present day Amsterdam.

I’ll admit that i’ve already borrowed the second book in the series and can’t wait to see where Zelda’s adventures take her next!

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2020 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review- Beach Read – Emily Henry

26 May

beach readBeach Read
Author: Emily Henry
Publication Date: 19 May 2020 (Berkley)
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2

Review Copy Provided by Publisher via Edelweiss

Description:
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

Review:
I was scrolling through Edelweiss a few weeks ago looking at the available for download books when I came across Beach Read. While I’ll admit, I initially clicked on the description because of the cover, it was the first couple lines of the description (romance writing no longer believing in love) that totally sold me. It is kind of obvious from the majority of my reviews here, that romance is a genre that I read on a pretty frequent basis – but having a POV of a romance author who didn’t believe in love, seemed like something unique. Plus enemies to lovers (in this instance a romance writer and a literary writer – which gives me visions of a dude with his nose in the air) seemed like something that I would enjoy – since in general its one of my favorite romance tropes.

The premise to me was an interesting dichotomy, I follow quite a few romance authors on various social media platforms and the vast majority all seem to have a happily ever after with the significant other that potentially helps to feed into their writing mojo (I don’t have any solid proof of this but its a pretty solid working hypothesis). Anyways – what happens when a romance writer can no longer write romance – what does she do next? That formed a great basis for a challenge between two writers – January will try her hand at writing the next great american novel (which honestly, i typically try to avoid because i find majority of them to be pretentious) and Augustus (aka Gus) would try his hand at writing a romance novel.

I think the weakest part of the plot for me – we saw a lot about January writing her great american novel, but i wanted to see more of Gus trying to write his romance. I don’t know if alternating POV’s would have worked but the ending just left me feeling a bit empty about that aspect of the plot – which is why I ultimately gave Beach Read 3.5 stars.

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2020 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review – Stages of the Heart – Jo Goodman

09 May

Stages of the Heart
Author: Jo Goodman
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Release Date: 05 May 2020

Review Copy Provided via Publisher and Edelweiss

Description:
Experience has taught Laurel to be suspicious of the men who pass through Morrison Station. She’s been running the lucrative operation that connects Colorado’s small frontier town of Falls Hollow with the stagecoach line since she inherited it from her father, and she’s not about to let some wandering cowboy take over the reins. But newcomer McCall Landry isn’t just any gunslinger. He seems to genuinely care for Laurel, and with his rugged good looks and mysterious past, he could be the one man to finally tempt her off track…

Call Landry doesn’t expect much from Falls Hollow. He doesn’t expect much from anything anymore. But Laurel Morrison took him by surprise when she put in a good word for him, a virtual stranger, after the stagecoach was robbed–and she keeps taking him by surprise. Charmed by her clever wit and fierce loyalty, Call finds himself falling hard. Now all he has to do is convince her he means to stay–in her bed, in her life, and in her heart.

Review
I feel like Jo Goodman is an author I should have read more of – but when i go and look at my goodreads shelves, i’ve only read one book by her with 2 more shelved. Yet, when i started reading Stages of the Heart I felt like i was falling into a comfort zone. American Historicals seem to be a sub-genre in romance that has (while not necessarily fallen out of favor) but just not as popular recently (or at least so i’ve noticed). Stages of the Heart takes post-Civil War US and mixes in an independant (and sometimes fiesty) female, a war veteran and a mystery.

I thought overall the mystery was probably the better part of the plot – the romance (at times) felt kind of forces and just ah ha – i don’t know if i completely bought it. Not saying that it was bad – it just felt a bit lacking at times. I liked how Ms. Goodman developed the mystery plot line and while I had an inkling of who i thought the culprit was, it didn’t spoil the reveal towards the end. The character of characters (namely Laurel’s ranch hands – the old man names Rooster and the twins) were a needed comic relief at times. Honestly, i would love to see a short story or 2 about them – maybe the twins down the road – just musing out loud.

Anyways, a solid historical romance with mystery – definately heavier on the mystery if you look those kind of plots (like I do). Overall, 3.5 stars.

 
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Posted by on May 9, 2020 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review – Saving Meghan – D.J. Palmer

09 Apr

Saving Meghan
Author: D.J. Palmer
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Review Copy Provided By Publisher

Description:
Can you love someone to death?

Some would say Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child. Others claim she’s obsessed and can’t stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter’s expense.

Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of hospitals with a plague of unexplained illnesses. But when the ailments take a sharp turn, doctors intervene and immediately suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder where the primary caretaker, typically the mother, seeks medical help for made-up symptoms of a child. Is this what’s going on? Or is there something even more sinister at hand?

Review
Saving Meghan came at the perfect time for me, I was getting ready to head out of town for a short trip and I was in an epic reading funk. I started reading it one day at lunch (while I was waiting a brutally long time for my computer profile to load) and before I knew it, I was sneaking chapters in between breaks in class and I totally blew off a workout that night to keep reading. So yeah, I kind of devoured it. Also I loved the interactive part of reading this – when the publisher asked you to tweet were you – #believebecky or #protectmeghan – because it made you think about which side of the debate you came down on – did I believe that Becky (Meghan’s mother) was hurting her or was Meghan really sick…

I’m not going to spoil Saving Meghan for you – and honestly, its kind of hard to touch on many of the different plot points without potentially risking spoilers – but suffice to say that I totally didn’t predict anything about how the story unwound, whatsoever…I was guessing right up until the very last page what was going to happen. I did think that Palmer did a solid job of developing all of the characters – even those that I thought were going to be relatively minor to the storyline – were two dimensional and believable. There were so many different layers to the characters in Saving Meghan – there was family dysfunction (oh boy was Becky’s family dysfunctional); there were the medical mystery of what was going on with Meghan, there was a family dealing with grief and the role that the internet plays in solving medical mysteries (or does it cause more confusion).

D.J. Palmer is a new to me author, but after taking a look at his website (which is under his pseudonym Daniel Palmer) – i’m definitely going to be reading more of them by him in the future. I love a good medical thriller/suspense/mystery and good ones are often few and far between (so if you have any recommendations, please let me know!)

 
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Posted by on April 9, 2019 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review – Hello Stranger – Lisa Kleypas

07 Mar

Hello Stranger
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Series: #4 in the Ravenels
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Review Copy Provided by the Publisher

Description:
A woman who defies her time
Dr. Garrett Gibson, the only female physician in England, is as daring and independent as any man—why not take her pleasures like one? Yet she has never been tempted to embark on an affair, until now. Ethan Ransom, a former detective for Scotland Yard, is as gallant as he is secretive, a rumored assassin whose true loyalties are a mystery. For one exhilarating night, they give in to their potent attraction before becoming strangers again.

A man who breaks every rule
As a Ravenel by-blow spurned by his father, Ethan has little interest in polite society, yet he is captivated by the bold and beautiful Garrett. Despite their vow to resist each other after that sublime night, she is soon drawn into his most dangerous assignment yet. When the mission goes wrong, it will take all of Garrett’s skill and courage to save him. As they face the menace of a treacherous government plot, Ethan is willing to take any risk for the love of the most extraordinary woman he’s ever known.

Review:
I’ve been reading Lisa Kleypas since almost before I could remember reading romance – i’m pretty sure that she was one of the first ten romance authors that I read as a teenager (along with Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, LaVyrle Spencer and Jude Deveraux…yeah, i can actually remember the names of the authors that sparked my love of romance). And to this day, she is still one of my go-to authors when I need a solid read – I’ll admit that I’ve had my highs and lows with some of her more recent books, but since Garrett was introduced in Marrying Winterbourne – I knew her book was going to be a roller-coaster of emotions. I’ve also had a total girl crush on Ethan from the get-go. I love that unlike many of her other books, both individuals in this pairing were lower-class (or rather for the most part they were). It was nice seeing how the other side lived during the late 1800’s – so often it is just glazed over in books and forgotten about it.

There were so many different facets to Garrett that the author developed – not only was she the first female physician and all that entailed, but she was willing to go above and beyond her calling to help people by volunteering to help others in need – which ironically is how she and Ethan first got to know each other several books ago. There were several scenes in Hello Stranger where Garrett was learning how to fence in an effort to be able to protect herself, which of course, Ethan was able to come to the rescue and fix because she had learnt very proper and not how a fight would go down in real life. The strong man to the rescue trope is pretty common in most historical romances and honestly, for this was it was a bit grating – i really wanted Garrett to not need to be rescued and to do the rescuing (which she also did)…I dunno – I think that was the one element that I struggled with the most.

Ethan’s portion of the storyline was kind of obvious and I had pretty much figure out what was going to happen – i’m not saying that this is bad, but it wasn’t as engaging as previous books – i love Garrett and Ethan but Hello Stranger just didn’t quite have all the entire magic that I was hoping for – but it was still a solid read that I gave 3.5 stars to. I’m intrigued to see where Ms Kleypas goes with the next book in the series – it must almost be time for West to get his HEA.


About Lisa:
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas graduated from Wellesley College with a political science degree. She is a RITA award winning author of both historical romance and contemporary women’s fiction. Her novels are published in fourteen different languages and are bestsellers all over the world. She lives in Washington State with her husband Gregory and their two children.

Connect with Lisa:
Facebook: @LisaKleypas
Twitter: @LisaKleypas
Instagram: @lisakleypas

BUY LINKS for HELLO STRANGER:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2mGsuAd
IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2mRfLvD
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2EQPLH5
Books-A-Million: http://bit.ly/2BckeNI
iBooks: https://apple.co/2DJ339o
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2rjQ37l

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2018 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review – Scent of the Missing – Susannah Charleston

21 Jan

Scent of the Missing
Author: Susannah Charleston
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Description:
In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Susannah Charleson clipped a photo from the newspaper of an exhausted canine handler, face buried in the fur of his search-and-rescue dog. A dog lover and pilot with search experience herself, Susannah was so moved by the image that she decided to volunteer with a local canine team and soon discovered firsthand the long hours, nonexistent pay, and often heart-wrenching results they face. Once she qualified to train a dog of her own, she adopted Puzzle, a strong, bright Golden Retriever puppy who exhibited unique aptitudes as a working dog but who was less interested in the role of compliant house pet. Scent of the Missing is the story of Susannah and Puzzle’s adventures as they search for the missing lost teen, an Alzheimer’s patient wandering in the cold, signs of the crew amid the debris of the space shuttle Columbia disaster and unravel the mystery of the bond between humans and dogs.

Review:‘
I’m a TV crime show buff – most of the time if you check out my recent shows on Hulu, you will see things like Law and Order, Blue Bloods or Chicago PD in my recently viewed shows. Ocassionally, i’ll be watching one of these shows and i’ll see a peak of people working a crime scene and cadaver dogs searching for bodies at the potential dump site for a serial killer. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of search dogs and when Scent of the Missing popped up as a potential book for a reading challenge, I opted to read it and find out just a bit more.

Scent of the Missing intertwines chapters of training scenarios where the author worked as a volunteer with chapters dedicated to the training of a Search and Rescue dog – specific for this book, a Golden Retriever called Puzzle (or Puzz as she is referred to throughout). I have to admit that I was surprised by the amount of training that it took to ensure that a dog was fully qualified. I mean I knew that you didn’t just get a dog one day and they were qualified as a search dog the next – but the evolution of a search dog from a puppy (Susannah got Puzzle from a breeder when she was 8 weeks old and had been involved with selecting the right puppy before they were even available to take home) to a fully qualified dog around 2 years of age (when Puzzle finished her official certification).

I thought that the author did a good job balancing real life searches where she provided support to other handler’s and their dogs with the training that she was going through with Puzzle (oftentimes at the same time). I found her volunteering to be a victim as part of training scenarios to be intriguing and something that I would love to potentially do in the future (or the same could be said for volunteering in mass casualty training scenarios). ultimately, I gave Scent of the Missing 3.5 stars because it was a solid enjoyable read, but didn’t completely blow me away. I also didn’t find myself too emotionally invested in any of the searches (as I have found myself in other non-fiction books).

 
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Posted by on January 21, 2018 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review – Christmas at the Candied Apple Cafe – Katherine Garbera

16 Nov

Christmas at the Candied Apple Café
Author: Katherine Garbera
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Review Copy Provided by Author via NetGalley

Description:
There’s nothing so magical as Christmas in New York…
Santa is coming to New York!
Snow is falling, excitement is high and the delicious scent of chocolate drifts along Fifth Avenue – the Candied Apple Café is ready for Christmas! And no one is busier than publicist Iona Summerlin. With so much to do, she doesn’t have time to think about men, dating, or the fact her last boyfriend ditched her for her brother… Relationships are off the menu!
Hotel boss Mads Eriksson is not looking forward to the first Christmas since losing his wife. His six-year-old daughter Sofia has lost her belief in Christmas magic along with her mother, and he has no idea what to do. But an unusually festive business meeting at the Candied Apple – and meeting the beautiful Iona – starts to defrost Mads’ frozen heart, and suddenly life seems full of light and sparkle again.
If only they dare to believe, maybe all their Christmas dreams will come true!

Review:
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…well, kinda sorta…at least the weather has started to cool down a bit (I even woke up to frost on the car earlier this week) – normally, I would wait until December to start digging into Christmas romances – but when I was offered the chance to review Christmas at the Candied Apple Café, I was intrigued by the description (as well as the whimsy of the cover) – that I said yes. It has also been a while since I’ve read anything written by Ms Garbara (like probably close to 8years), so seeing how her writing style has evolved over time was an added bonus.

Like the cover, there was something whimsical about Christmas at the Candied Apple Café – it was a story about learning to love again and moving on, to making new memories (and add in a nice bonus of a story that revolves around chocolate…which if anyone knows me knows I heartily subscribe to that lifestyle choice). While Iona wasn’t the chocolatier, she was the publicist responsible for a rather popular chocolate store who is being courted by the hero, Mads Eriksson, to be a unique store in his hotel chain. But it was Mads daughter who won me over in the writing of the story. I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for books that feature kids (especially if they are key to the story) and Sofia was an adorable, yet precocious little girl. I just wanted to have her jump off the page, so that I could give her a hug and read her a story, but alas….

The romance between Iona and Mads wasn’t anything that blew me away – it just had a nice steady development with a bit of a flash and bang at a few different spots. I was honestly more interested in both Mads relationship with his daughter and how he was going to get past a recently suffered tragedy to love again. Christmas at the Candied Apple Café was just a comfortable read – the kind of book that I would read on a snowy day, snuggled up unti a blanket on the couch with the dog warming my feet. I’d give Christmas at the Candied Apple Café 3.5 stars and a recommendation for anyone looking for a cute Christmas romance.

About Katherine Garbera:
Katherine Garbera is the USA Today best-selling author of more than 90 books. A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband, two children and a very spoiled miniature Dachshund.

Katherine on Social Media:
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Posted by on November 16, 2017 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review – Dear Fahrenheit 451 – Annie Spence

05 Nov

Dear Fahrenheit 451: A Librarian’s Love Letters and Break-Up Notes to the Books in Her Life
Author: Annie Spence
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Description:
Librarians spend their lives weeding–not weeds but books! Books that have reached the end of their shelf life, both literally and figuratively. They remove the books that patrons no longer check out. And they put back the books they treasure. Annie Spence, who has a decade of experience as a Midwestern librarian, does this not only at her Michigan library but also at home, for her neighbors, at cocktail parties—everywhere. In Dear Fahrenheit 451, she addresses those books directly. We read her love letters to The Goldfinch and Matilda, as well as her snarky break-ups with Fifty Shades of Grey and Dear John. Her notes to The Virgin Suicides and The Time Traveler’s Wife feel like classics, sure to strike a powerful chord with readers. Through the lens of the books in her life, Annie comments on everything from women’s psychology to gay culture to health to poverty to childhood aspirations. Hilarious, compassionate, and wise, Dear Fahrenheit 451 is the consummate book-lover’s birthday present, stocking stuffer, holiday gift, and all-purpose humor book.

Review:
If I could pick any job when I grow up (or rather when I finally admit I have to grow up), it would be to either a) own my own bookstore (focusing solely on romances) or b) become a librarian. I’ve been exceptionally lucky to have awesome librarians in my life over the years who cemented my love of reading and after reading Dear Fahrenheit 451, I would add Annie Spence to a list of virtual/written librarians who have influenced me.

The premise of Dear Fahrenheit 451 is simple – its love (or break up) letters to various books that she has encountered over the years. The books she has written letters to run from children’s classics like The Giving Tree to Matilda; from Twilight to Fifty Shades of Grey (and the fabulous line – you made me say “erotica” to an old lady” and To Kill A Mockingbird to the title book, Fahrenheit 451. Some of the letters are short and others longer – it made for a quick and easy read while I was catching the short commuter bus that took me from the parking lot to my work building for several days (yeah, I can be kind of lazy at times and its getting cold). Several of her letters really made me stop and think about books that had influenced my life and how I would write letters to them if given the opportunity.

While many of the books were fairly commonplace ones that many readers would recognize, there were also some complete left-field books – that kind of made me scratch my head and think, someone actually wrote a book about this – such as “Pictorial Anatomy of a Cat” or “Cult of the Born-Again Virgin” – not diminishing the books themselves (ok well actually maybe I am), but…umm, yeah – I got nothing…kind of makes me wonder what is lost in the shelves at my local library – those books that may not have seen daylight in years and where do they go when the library decides they are no longer worth keeping (i’m guessing to our Friends of the Library sale to go to another home).

While I’m not sure I’ll ever start writing love letters to books – although after reading this, I feel like I should pay more attention to how books make me feel; what kind of feelings or memories do they invoke. I do know that if I were to do something similar to this, that the first book(s) that I would probably mention would be The Babysitter’s Club books – as a 7 year old, I got a box set of the first 6 and devoured them; and then secondly, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis – my first foray into Fantasy (although it wasn’t until I reread as an adult that I picked up on all the Christian allegory). It was because of all these reasons, that I give Dear Fahrenheit 451 4 stars

 
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Posted by on November 5, 2017 in Book Review, Review

 

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Review – Caroline – Sarah Miller

02 Nov

Caroline
Author: Sarah Miller
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆

Description:
In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril.

The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.

Review:
I find that I’m struggling to write this review, because I went into Caroline: Little House Revisted fully expecting to love it and honestly, I’m left feeling empty. Its not that Ms Miller isn’t a good writer or that I wasn’t engaged…its just that I felt like there wasn’t really anything new or groundbreaking that was added in the alternate POV telling of Little House. Now admittedly, I probably re-read Little House on the Prairie every couple of years (in fact, probably the whole series), so I’m well versed with the story and maybe that is why I am kind of disappointed. So much of the story was retelling of the same events that occurred in Little House on the Prairie from Caroline’s point of view, but I never really felt like I got to know her, more than who she was beyond Ma (athough I’m sure other readers will disagree with me).

Caroline starts off as Ma, Pa, Mary and Laura are getting ready to leave Wisconsin (Little House in the Big Woods) for Indian territory (aka Kansas). There are a few deviations from the story that many of us have read previously that bring it in line with what really happened to the family, vs. what Laura wrote about it her books – however, for the most part Caroline followed the events in LHotP from beginning to end. I don’t know if it was a lack of historical information available on the family – but I felt like more primary sources needed to be incorporated into the story (in her authors note, Ms Miller addresses some of the historical deviations, but also states that she kept significantly to LHotP as her authoritative source).

Anyways, overall, I found Caroline to be a good read, but I think my pre-read expectations were just a tad too high and I didn’t get what I wanted. 3 stars overall.

 
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Posted by on November 2, 2017 in Book Review, Review

 

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