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A Viking fantasy high adventure with a female hero. We are all used to the Viking stories that center around the men who ventured out in longboats conquering new lands but this story features Freya who has been blessed by the gods which means she is now a pawn to be used, captured or killed by those men in power who always want more power. To protect her family and her land she marries a fanatical jarl and for as long as she does what he wants (basically kill , don't get killed and help him take over the entire region) her family will be kept alive. She has been blessed with magical powers and it has been foretold that she will be the one to unite the kingdoms. Flanked by her protector, the jarl's son Bjorn who also has magical powers, she feels both safe and uneasy by their mutual attraction. There are horrific battle scenes, political intrigue and forbidden love between Freya and Bjorn. This is a great start to a new series that will appeal to everyone who misses THE VIKINGS and wants non stop action with a strong female warrior and a steamy love story to boot. 4 stars 
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Bill loses his wife suddenly and their four children lose their mom. This is the story of the year after when they all go to pieces and find the glue to put the pieces back together. Ali is the oldest and only girl who must now somehow fill the huge gap her mother left behind. Her dad is floundering, her grandmother is not a help and even her mom's best friend can't solve everything. In true Anna Quindlen fashion the characters are real with all the pain, love and anger that comes with grief. She does not sugar coat that death is hard but there is always hope and a not perfect solution to getting up and getting through each day. An honest coming of age story of love, family and friendship. For readers of Ann Patchett, Amy Bloom and Laura Ziegler. 4 stars  A memoir of how a traumatic experience can lead to a new path. Trish was in the middle of Hurricane Katrina and it almost ruined her until she saw the birds somehow coming back to New Orleans. They gave her not only a new hobby that would lead her to a new career but something more important - hope. For those in need of a life coach or people who follow the birds, this is a memorable look at loss, survival and looking for the sunshine no matter how bad the storm. 3 1/2 stars  Ady is not a free woman nor is her mother but she has been given a long leash that allows her to walk the streets of New Orleans where she is housed at her master's townhouse. At the Mockingbird Inn she finds a group of free women who become friends, family and partners in a spy ring to thwart the growing Confederacy. They become her only outlet from a life of pain and a respite from her master. Told in the third person as well as journal entries and imagined research documents from the future this is a story of a group of brave women who risked everything to outsmart the powerful men who held their future in their hands but not their spirit. A story of the horrors of slavery and the power of community told in authentic language. 4 stars  A tale of women who suffer quietly at the hands of powerful men with easily bruised egos. In 1918 two couples are invited to spend the summer at a remote island owned by a recluse. Charles needs to finish his very important book debunking popular science for unnatural events in weather and nature. Anna wants very much to believe going to the island will help but when they get there and discover along with the other couple that they are in rustic shacks for quarantine and there are strange things happening both wives are alarmed. Anna begins to question her sanity and as the two women investigate the deeper into danger they become and believe the island is being run by a madman. Moody, dangerous and written at times like a fever dream this shows how women were taught to believe that they were the fragile, hysterical creatures society deemed them to be. This will appeal to gothic mystery lovers of REBECCA and Sarah Waters. 4 stars  Multi generational trauma from the Sand Creek Massacre to the Indian Schools to recent events and the pain of being forced to not be who you are - a Native American. As soon as the white man pushed entire groups of Native Americans off their land, eliminated the ones who wouldn't go peacefully and took their children to schools where they worked to "kill the Indian". Brutally honest with piercing characters, Tommy Orange once again expresses the hard truth of the damage done. Their land, their children taken away and then stripped of all their culture some escape through drugs and alcohol and some go on to fight to share and preserve their heritage for future generations. They can't take away the stories unless you stop telling them. Masterful writing and a prequel of sorts to THERE,THERE but definitely one that you can read as a standalone. 4 1/2 stars  1924 Bought from an orphanage at little more than a toddler Cecily begins her life in a circus learning how to wow audiences performing acrobatics on a moving horse. While her mentor Isabelle does her best to shield Cecily from the dark side of the circus she still grows up fast yet is innocent to the ways of the world outside the circus. A forbidden love sends her to a home for unwed mothers where she suffers loss. It is only decades later when her great grandchild wants to do a DNA project and the test results will force Cecily to give up the secrets she has kept for so long. This is a fascinating and horrific look at how children were victimized, racism and the seedy side of the circus as well as those institutions who had the power to sterilize women they deemed feeble or unfit but it is also a story of courage, love and family where you find it. For readers of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS and THE LIFE SHE WAS GIVEN. 4 stars  Iris and her husband Gabriel are best friends with Laure and her husband Pierre. They met years ago and have stayed close even though they live in London and Paris. Iris and Gabriel are shocked when they come home after a vacation to find Laure has moved into their house after a fight with Pierre. Weeks go by and there is no sign that Laure hasn't made up with Pierre or has plans to go home to Paris. Matters go from bad to worse as Laure being with them starts to affect their other friendships and the question of foul play puts a strain on their marriage as well. How well do you really know your friends? No spoilers but you may feel like i did after halfway through the book that you want to toss all of them off the nearby cliff because of their whining but in true B.A. Paris tradition there is a smoking ending coming. For fans of her other books and all those thrillers we live vicariously in. 3 1/2 stars  A tragic and touching story of two generations banding together to understand and heal each other. Mineko falls in love just before war breaks out in Japan and leaves her mourning quietly and later marrying an American G.I. who takes her to his small town in Texas. Fighting racism she raises two children and slowly adjusts to the states never forgetting her first love and their secret turtle house. In her later years she is sharing a room in her children's house with her grand daughter who is also feeling out of place. Lia is suffering as well and has run from Austin and her degree in Architecture. When Lia suggests that Mineko share her experiences the two realize they share much more than a branch on the family tree. It is a reminder to hang onto the stories of generations past and just because there is an age difference doesn't mean that you have nothing in common. Their antics and support of each other is heartwarming and Mineko's no nonsense approach to a life of hard work and great love is priceless. Readalikes would include HAPPINESS FALLS and THE PICTURE BRIDE. 4 stars  In Sixteenth century Mexico the Spaniards have firm control and have killed off and forced the remaining indigenous people to the jungle or servitude. Lady Leonora is of nobility and she has been promised to the prince of Spain but what others don't know is that she is also the masked warrior known as Pantera and is actively fighting for justice against the Spanish. A fierce warrior who has been cursed with an early death but blessed with magic and the ability to shape shift into a panther, Leonora must keep her identity a secret and get information to her people living in the jungles of Snake Mountain. She is drawn to a mysterious captain/pirate who makes it difficult to know who is an ally and who is a distraction. This is a different kind of Zorro story with a fierce female warrior at its center, non stop action and fascinating MesoAmerican mythology. There is a lot going on here but I enjoyed this unique debut that felt like Rick Riordan for adults. 3 1/2 stars  |
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