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A sexy nanny and hot divorced professor dad with three kids story with more spice than sugar. Maddie is living out of her car after a bad breakup with a jerk. She has just taken a teaching position but needs a second job to get her through. As luck would have it a professor is looking for a summer nanny and things are looking up until she sees who her boss is. Sparks fly and things sizzle while they try to keep a professional relationship. Being a good girl may not be what Bram has in mind when not around the kids. Witty dialogue and diverse characters carry this is updated naughty co-ed and the professor trope. It moves pretty quickly and you may need a glass of ice water handy. 4 stars 
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A school counselor is shaken to her core when she learns of the deaths of her son's classmates. Overnight Abby is out of a job and her son is being held for questioning. She is also still dealing with the childhood trauma that put her brother in prison. As a professional Abby is having a hard time ignoring some warning signs that her son is more involved than he is letting on but as a mother she can't believe he could do something so horrible. This psychological thriller plays on a parent's responsibility and the community to see warning signs and act as well as if bad behavior is learned or genetic. How well do we really know our teens? Do we as parents screen out what we don't want to see? Fans of DEFENDING JACOB and the tv drama ADOLESCENCE will be unable to put this down. 4 stars  The largest category in my best books of the year list is always general fiction. Drama and wonderful characters are the key. This year there were so many but these will stay with me. A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF by Megha Majurndar took me to India where a woman is desperate to get her visa so her family can flee during a crisis. Her path collides with a young boy also desperate to save his family. Breathtaking! WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConaghy also deals with desperation in Antarctica where a woman searches for her husband and finds something more sinister in a family of survivors. The queen of family drama title goes to Catherine Newman for WRECK. A family in crisis looks to each other for strength and a laugh. SO FAR GONE by Jess Walter proves that it is never too late to be there for your kids. An estranged father/grandfather takes on a cult to save his family. One of my favorite authors brightens my day and breaks my heart at the same time. Fredrik Backman's MY FRIENDS is a testament to friendship, loyalty and passing the torch. An artist's painting gives a young girl hope as his friends take her under their wing.      Margo has a life plan - marry an adoring husband CHECK, have a successful career CHECK, live in the perfect house? and have a baby? She and her husband find themselves constantly outbid in a ridiculous housing market and Margo has decided that only living in her perfect neighborhood will do. A lucky break gives them a foot in the door of the perfect house and because desperate times call for desperate measures Margo might go a bit overboard. Her plan spirals out of control along with her job, marriage and future unless she can make the sellers an offer they can't refuse. This debut is a one sitting read with an ending you won't see coming. Sometimes funny and timely, this scary satire on an insane housing market and obsession with the perfect life will leave you breathless. This will be the next GONE GIRL, GIRL ON A TRAIN, WOMAN IN THE WINDOW thriller that everyone will be talking about at the holiday dinner. 4 1/2 stars  It is Nils Vik's last day and it passes the same as every day before it - at the helm on his ferry. We the reader ride along as he reflects on his life and the people he has encountered along the way. Superb imagery, soothing prose and quiet wisdom guides us down the fjord as he makes peace with his memories and gets ready to see his beloved wife once more. Frode Grytten's writing is like that of Amor Towles - unassuming and elegant with each word carefully chosen. It is a beautiful book that will capture the heart of many different kinds of readers. 4 1/2 stars  Claire is dying of terminal cancer and Elliot, her husband of many years has been caring for her and will continue that care until she is gone. They have had a good marriage, raised two grown children and grandkids and Elliot has not heard any complaints so it comes as a shock when Claire's two best friends move in and move Elliot out to take over control of her care. Suddenly he is living in a strange house without his wife and with limited visitation. Everyone is telling him he got a raw deal but what can he do but respect Claire's wishes? A very honest if not brutal look at the process of impending death, friendship, love and marriage. When do you honor the dying person's wishes and when do you stand up for your own needs - it is a tricky business. This book will appeal to readers of family / marriage dramas and deep characters like those of Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Stroud. 4 stars  A group of women take charge of those women in need. Rain or shine The Humpty Dumpty Club ferries women to doctor visits, shopping or whatever they need. With one of the group out for a spell it puts a big strain on the remaining members. A sweet slow story of community, friendship and good hearted women. It made me hopeful that there would be a group like this if I ever needed it and sad that those days are not far ahead. I have not read the other books that feature some of the characters but that did not stop me from enjoying this as a standalone. Fans of Elizabeth Strout will enjoy. 3 1/2 stars  Like a spicy version of a Hallmark movie this feel good story of work/life balance for a country music star will leave a flush on your cheeks and a song in your heart. Cassie is a rising star who would rather write songs than perform on tour but that is what the public wants. When a tragic event happens at one of her concerts she takes a necessary step back to the safety of her sister's horse ranch to lay low and rethink her career. Neither she nor her sister's hunky ranch second in command Hayden expected so many sparks to fly and song material to surface. You are left with a feeling of hope and the appreciation for good people who give their lives to rescuing animals and the occasional human. 3 1/2 stars  The Nigerian women of the Falodun family have lived with this curse for too long. Where most women search for their soulmate and true love, they will never find happiness. Grandmothers, mothers and daughters are destined to fall for the wrong man. The story begins with a birth and a death - a baby girl is born who is identical to the young woman who sadly took her own life. Chapters jump back and forth between several characters and the past to the present so the reader can see the curse at work. It is a story of a family in crisis and each woman spending equal amounts of time in denial and running headlong into a troubled love. The writing is lyrical and I would love to listen to this in audiobook. I also appreciated learning more about the Nigerian culture and enjoyed the multiple generation point of view. 4 stars  A sweet cautionary tale as seen through the eyes of a large tortoise for over a century. She goes by many names over the years as the only tortoise on a large estate and is witness to the good and bad in the humans around her as well as the lives of the other animals who live on the estate. She makes several human friends in her lifetime but Lucy, names the tortoise Magic and remains with her throughout her life. Magic sees the estate change owners and purpose from family estate to animal sanctuary and in the last part of her life is given another tortoise as a companion. Through Magic we have insight into a century of wisdom, joy, pain and awareness of her surroundings that most people never take the time to see. A delightful story that begs to be read slowly and pondered as if Magic were reading it. 4 stars  |
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