The Munich Girl by Phyllis-Edgerly Ring

Finding out your mother was a friend of Eva Braun and researching Eva's life ​for magazine articles ​was quite emotional for Anna.

Along with this revelation​ about her mother​, Anna ​also had to deal with a terrifying plane crash​ she was a part of​, her husband​ and his demands and his infidelity​, and trying to not fall in love with someone else.

THE MUNICH GIRL was marvelously researched, and Ms. Ring has a beautiful writing style.  She can put you right where the character​s​ ​are.

If you enjoy historical fiction​, a love story or two, and learning about Eva Braun​, you will definitely want to read THE MUNICH GIRL. 

​I truly enjoyed the history, but THE MUNICH GIRL seemed too much like a memoir for me, and I am not that fond of memoirs.  

Excellent every other way, though. 4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the author in return for an honest review.

Friday Fill-Ins - 8/19/16

Friday Fill-Ins: 

1. When I run out of ___________________, I use ___________________ instead.

2. My guru is _______________.

3. I am afraid of                            .

4. I feel empowered                                 .

My  Answers:

1.  When I run out of time, I don't stress like I used to, and I use my imagination to complete the task.  I usually do not run out of time, though.  VERY RARE occasion for me.  I am very organized.

2.  My guru is no one.

3.  I am afraid of mean, bossy people.

4.  I feel empowered when I am praying.

Watching Edie by Camilla Way

Heather and Edie.  Friends since high school but total opposites.

Heather was the studious, compliant one. Edie was not interested in school and was rebellious.

Heather and Edie met in high school and went their separate ways, but did they? 

Heather showed up at Edie's flat many years later and noticed that Edie was pregnant, but Edie sent her away.  Edie wonders how Heather found her and if Heather had been watching her for years. 

After Edie's daughter is born, Heather appears again but Edie let her stay this time to take care of the baby because she couldn't handle her new responsibility.    Both girls came from unstable families. 

Ms. Way was masterful in her organization of the book and also kept me on edge the entire time I was reading. You never knew what Heather was going to do, and you feared for Edie as well as feared for Heather herself.

The theme and mystery of what happened that tore the friends apart was quite cleverly weaved into the story and kept from the reader until the very end.  I do have to say that I really didn't like either of the main characters. They both made terrible choices in their lives.

I actually was fearful about many of the situations they involved themselves in.  Most of the situations were unsafe and poor choices on the part of the characters, and these choices had me nervously turning the pages.

Ms. Way addressed many social issues such as drinking by teenagers, drug abuse, domestic abuse, and mental illness.

I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like the book because the characters definitely led risky lives and made me nervous.   I didn't put the book down, though, because I wanted to know what became of the two main characters.

WATCHING EDIE definitely is a tense, but a well-written debut. 4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.
 

Behind Closed Doors by B. A. Paris

Jack Angel..... what a gentle name, but what a terrifying person.

Jack and Grace have what appears to be the perfect marriage and Grace the perfect life not having to work, painting, cooking perfect meals, and having perfect dinner parties.  All is not what it appears, though. 

Ms. Paris takes the reader on a terrifying ride with the three main characters....Grace, Jack, and Millie. 

She has a writing style that draws you in and makes the characters and situations very real.   

Ms. Paris is so good I could just feel something was wrong the minute Grace met charming, dashing, wealthy Jack.  I was extremely frightened for Grace as I was reading and feared for her every time Jack had planned one of his horrific deeds. 

I couldn't believe someone could be as evil as Jack. 

If you truly want to hate a character, Jack is your man. 

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS was quite intense and had such an extremely scary plot that you won't be able to read it except in broad daylight.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS is a chilling nightmare, but also a must read.  5/5 

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation in return for an honest review.

Along The Infinite Sea Paperback Release Giveaway Celebration

In celebration of the release of the paperback edition of ALONG THE INFINITE SEA by Beatriz Williams, Danielle Dill is sending a copy of the book to one lucky USA winner in this giveaway.  

Entry form is at the bottom of the review.  Good Luck!!

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Pepper is back and as usual something​ is brewing.  The brew is that she is pregnant and has no place to go.

Pepper did have some money, though, because she found an old Mercedes at her sister's home, ​got it in perfect working order, and sold it.  Little did Pepper know that the car and Annabelle, the woman who bought the car, had a colorful and intense history of love, loss, and complications that involved the car.

What secrets do both Annabelle and Pepper have?  ​Will they both reveal them after Annabelle Dommerich takes Pepper with her to her home? Will they be able to share their secrets since after one day at Annabelle's, Pepper finds that Annabelle has disappeared on one of her trips with no return date leaving Pepper at the house with Annabelle's housekeeper and dogs.

ALONG THE INFINITE SEA has beautiful descriptions, wonderful characters, secrets that everyone likes to hear, and amazing characters.  Annabelle is a character you can't help but love. Pepper is fun and both Annabelle and Pepper are quite likable yet very mysterious.​  When Alice arrives, the story gets even more interesting.​

ALONG THE INFINITE SEA is another book of Ms. Williams that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I enjoyed the back and forth in time and the way Ms. Williams knows how to tell a story.  Her way with words and the story line kept me wanting more.  The story of Annabelle and the revelation of the history of the car and her marriage was very intriguing.

Women's fiction fans will have another read that will stay with them after turning the last page.​  The Schuyler girls always have something fun or disastrous going on in their lives.
If you haven't read any of Ms. Williams' books, you definitely want to take a look at them.  I know you won't be disappointed.​  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

 **********

GIVEAWAY:

Giveaway has ended. 

The winner is:

Betty of Georgia

CONGRATS!!!
 

USA ONLY

ONE Entry Per Reader Please

August 9  to August 16

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The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine

From 1910 to 2010, The ​I​sle of Skye, inherited castles, and human bones.

THE HOUSE BETWEEN TIDES takes us back to 1910 when Theo and Beatrice Blake spent their summers in Muirlan House in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and then to present day when Hetty inherits the ruins of the house with hopes of turning it into a hotel.

Theo and Beatrice Blake didn't do too much to make Muirlan House a home​ so when Hetty arrived to see her inheritance many years​ later​, she was taken by surprise to see it in ruins and more surprised to find bones buried under the rotting floorboards.

THE HOUSE BETWEEN TIDES was a lovely read for me especially because of the setting.  I enjoyed going back and forth in time to see how the characters lived then and how they lived now.

The characters themselves were interesting because of the jobs they had on the estate in 1910 and present-day Hetty who really had no clue how to live in this remote area with peat as the heating source, the constant rain, and having to be mindful of the tides.

The connection Hetty had to her ancestral family was not very strong, but strong and interesting enough to want to find things out about the family's history.  And what a history it is.  All she has for information, though, are photographs, paintings, a few letters, and the ruins of Muirlan House.  Will these bits of evidence reveal the answers to whose bones were found as well as the mystery of who Theo Blake was and what his connection is to the girl in his earlier photos?

THE HOUSE BETWEEN TIDES is a very captivating read. The detailed, marvelous descriptions of the life and the setting are wonderful.  You could just feel yourself at the social gatherings, feel the rain, feel the tension between characters, and feel the dreariness of the landscape.

If you enjoy traveling back and forth in time, mysteries, finding old letters, love affairs, and figuring out family connections, you will love THE HOUSE BETWEEN TIDES. 

We also can’t forget that alluring, eerie, pull-you-in cover.  It definitely sets the stage for the book.

ENJOY if you read THE HOUSE BETWEEN TIDES.   A marvelous summer read or any-time-of-the-year read.  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.