The House Sitter’s Guide: How to Borrow Luxury Homes by Todra Payne If you've ever dreamed of living in a mansion (let’s be honest, who doesn’t!), a penthouse apartment, or in a big beach house, but don’t have the funds, would you live in one of those places if they paid you? If you loved that last statement, then you...
The Spymistress The Spymistress (Dutton/Penguin Group) begins in 1861, right before Virginia secedes from The Union. The novel vividly narrates the struggles of a loyal Unionist family living in the Confederate capital (Richmond) throughout the Civil War. Our heroine,...
Hotshot by Julie Garwood WARNING: Reading Hotshot by Julie Garwood will cause (a) lack of sleep (b) a burning desire to find hot, hunky FBI men and (c) the need to book a plane ticket to Florida. As a longtime fan/reader of Ms. Garwood’s books, I can attest to the fact...
Chose the Wrong Guy…Gave Him the Wrong Finger… by Beth Harbison The story tells the tale of Quinn Barton, living in Virginia, who, ten years ago almost married her high school sweetheart Burke Morrison. Her dream wedding hit the proverbial “bump in the road” when the Best Man (and groom’s brother) Frank,...
Almost Snow White by Jeffrey Blount Almost Snow White (Alluvion Press) chronicles the trials of Precious Anne Sprately, a mulatto child conceived when her mother was raped by a white man. Precious lives in a black community in Virginia with her “father” who can’t stand to look at her, and...
The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo As a working mom, my most recent literary fixes include A Very Hungry Caterpillar and Go Dog Go. As fascinating as those stories are the 100th time around, I needed a new book to read for MY reading pleasure (in all that free time I have, wink!). I was...
The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy The Illusion of Separateness (Harper Collins) is the story of six complete strangers, whose lives unknowingly intertwine to affect each other’s destinies in monumental ways. World War II is the central event connecting each of these people in ways they...
The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane by Kelly Harms In lesser hands, the plot of The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martins Press) could be the premise of a really bad Lifetime movie. In Harms’ deft hands, the story of two women who share the same name and both claim a...
The Registry by Shannon Stoker New dystopian thriller The Registry begs us to imagine a world in which the government exercises ultimate control over the future of every boy and girl. Stoker fails to create an environment as evocative as say, District 12. To her advantage, it is not hard...
