Summer in a Cornish Cove

Set against the stunning backdrop of the glorious Cornish Rivieria, this summer will change their lives for ever! The book to fall in love with this summer - perfect for fans of Fern Britton, Liz Fenwick and Veronica Henry.

Oliver Foxley is an acclaimed movie star, global heartthrob and one half of Hollywood's golden couple. But under the glare of the spotlight his 'perfect' life is slowly starting to crumble.

Cara Penhaligon is a struggling young Cornish artist, and widowed mother of two children. Life has been unbearably harsh to Cara, but meeting Oliver might just give her a second chance at the happiness she deserves. As each begins to heal the other, the pieces of Oliver's frustrating jigsaw puzzle effortlessly fall into place. But as the Cornish summer draws to a close, Oliver faces the toughest of choices, and no one emerges quite as they were at the start.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Summer in a Cornish Cove by Kate Ryder is a novel of escape and new beginnings. The main characters, Cara and Oliver, each have an invisible weight on their shoulders that keeps them struggling to find happiness. Maybe one summer together can change that... 

Cara Penhaligon is a beautiful woman, wonderful mother, exemplary artist, and devastated widow. Though she finds fleeting moments of happiness with her children and her painting, Cara is still severely impacted by her husband's sudden death. Readers will connect with her through this horrible experience and feel respect for her as she moves on, feeling as if her late husband is with her, almost as a guide to finding happiness again. 

Oliver Foxley is a famous actor that suffers from deep depression. He's managed to keep this aspect of his personality a secret, but it demands constant attention, often leaving Oliver alone for days as he struggles to find his way out of the 'grey mist.' His wife tries, but she doesn't exactly understand how much it effects him. Readers will understand his suffering as they witness the depression seep in and dictate his emotions and actions. 

When Cara and Oliver meet, the attraction is instantaneous. Oliver immediately feels like he can be himself around Cara and Cara feels like she can find happiness again with him. While Oliver takes top billing in a play circling Cornwall area theaters, they spend the summer rediscovering what it feels like to be free from invisible weights. And though Ryder writes the story like a tale of happily ever after, there are a few dark moments in the book and negative aspects that caught me off guard. 

First, I didn't exactly like that Oliver was cheating on his wife who had previously supported him and his career, putting hers on hold so she could be there for him. One experience even leads Oliver to have a stalker (an overly obsessed fan) which ends in tragedy. I felt like this took away from the story of Oliver finding relief from his depression. And I know that the way the book ended was probably more realistic, I just didn't feel satisfied with how it all played out. I also am not sure (spoiler alert) that I believe Cara was okay with how Oliver left her after the summer was over. Finding happiness again equals happiness in my book while finding happiness for a few months and then losing it again does not. 

Because of these negative aspects of the book, I felt unsatisfied when it was all said and done. I thought the story was going to be about a summer of finding love and happiness, with a few trials, but nothing as serious as suicide and cheating on a spouse. Like I previously pointed out, maybe the way it's written is more realistic, but I wasn't exactly happy with it. I just had different expectations. 

Rating: 2.5/5 Cups

Fallout Girl (Hollywood Lights #5)

The day she buries her mother, Miranda George jumps on a plane from North Carolina, telling no one where she’s heading. She wants to disappear and start over. She arrives on the Los Angeles doorstep of college friend Daphne Saito, and even though Miranda hasn’t seen Daphne in years, Daphne welcomes Miranda into her home and her makeshift L.A. family.

The problem is, Miranda is on the run from family. All family. Family, in Miranda’s experience, can get you killed.

Miranda takes off again, but this time her plan is much more sinister. She certainly doesn’t expect her friends to track her down. When they bring her back from the edge, the question remains: will Miranda be able to save herself and her newfound friendships? Or will she remain strangled by the past?

*May Contain Spoilers*

Fallout Girl, by Katie Rose Guest Pryal, introduces a strong female lead who suffers from a mental illness to the series and to the group of Hollywood friends. Miranda George was raised by a mother suffering from bipolar disorder and is now aware that she, too, has the mental illness. With firsthand experience from trying to care for her mother, Miranda is determined to stop her illness from hurting anyone she cares about, but that doesn't include herself. 

Miranda is portrayed as a blunt, brutally honest, and incredibly intelligent young woman. However, her bipolar disorder also makes her reckless, overly adventurous, and prone to push people away. When she arrived in L.A., Miranda thought she was escaping to an old college acquaintance who wouldn't care enough to try to save her. Luckily, she was way off base. Miranda, instead, finds a group of people who are caring, loyal, and willing to accept her as a friend. Through these personality traits and the events of the book, readers will, without a doubt, connect with Miranda. Though her mental illness isn't discussed at length, the author demonstrates the symptoms through Miranda's actions. This gives readers an in-depth, realistic look at bipolar disorder and how it can affect those who have it. Readers will not only understand why Miranda is acting the way she is, they'll witness moments when her mental illness takes over. With that kind of openness, readers will form a strong bond with Miranda and want her to heal as the book continues. 

The plot of the novel begins after Miranda has already arrived in L.A., where the series takes place. Miranda is determined to escape her mental illness using drugs, danger, and sex while she forms a plan to take her own life. Yet, the people she meets while crashing at Daphne's apartment (an old acquaintance from college) begin to care about Miranda and notice that something is happening to her. With good intentions and help from Miranda's brother, the group tries to help Miranda accept her mental illness and move toward a life that allows her to control it. 

Though Fallout Girl has a very serious storyline, it is an incredibly entertaining and interesting book. The mental illness aspect is represented as realistically as it can be while still allowing the book to have an enjoyable air. There is a romantic aspect of the book that will also have readers cheering for Miranda, even though her destructive nature threatens her chance at a relationship multiple times. With various layers of interaction, shifting point of views, and serious undertones, Fallout Girl is a book that seriously represents living with bipolar disorder and presenting friendships that grow and evolve with the people who are a part of them. 

Rating: 4/5 Cups

What's Next, Wednesday (31)

•  To play along share a book you've been looking forward to reading, whether it's new or has been on your reading list for a while.

I'm looking forward to...

The Queen of Annam's Daughter by Nina Vida. A woman escapes her home country of Vietnam to hide in the U.S. She builds a life for herself but when the past she escaped reappears, everyone she cares about is put in harm's way. I've been holding onto this book for a while now and it seems like a great time to dive in. I'm hoping for an action filled mystery. 

Wither

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can't bring herself to hate him as much as she'd like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband's strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?

Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?

*May Contain Spoilers*

The beginning of The Chemical Gardens series is a whirlwind of dealing with scientific failure. Wither, by Lauren DeStefano, shares the story of a girl who only wants to be free for the last four years of her life. Even if that means hiding, worrying, and constantly watching her back. Being captured and sold as a willing bride, Rhine promises that the illusions of luxury won't eclipse her memories of freedom. 

Rhine is a smart 16 year old girl who knows how to act in order to get what she wants. She believes that if she can make her husband fall in love with her, then she'll be trusted more. So when the time comes to make her escape, it'll be easier to slip out. But she doesn't factor making friends into her escape plan. Rhine is an orphan whose parents were killed in a bomb explosion. She knows life is scary, hard, and often leaves bruises. She's down to earth with a strong will and has the advantage of being able to understand others. Readers will enjoy Rhine's hope in a desolate situation and connect with her through her desire to be with her family through the end. The relationships she forms with the other wives, the attendants, and her husband will reveal her as a sweet, caring, yet wary character. 

The story begins after Rhine has already been kidnapped. She, along with two other girls, is picked to be the bride of a House Governor while the ones not chosen are killed. Rhine wakes up in a mansion and is forced to prepare for her wedding. She believes that if she can convince Linden to love her and trust her as his first wife then she'll be able to escape. But she begins to fall for her own lies as she comes to care about those she's trapped with. Will Rhine be able to keep her focus on her escape plan or will she be taken in by the illusions and holograms that make her prison beautiful? 

I absolutely loved the writing style of this book. It's written in first person which immediately puts readers into the role of main character. The emotions that Rhine experiences are easily related to. The illusions that test Rhine, I found myself falling for, wondering how great it would be to experience that. Wither is a struggle between freedom and the false feeling of being free that will enchant readers.

Rating: 4.5/5 Cups

Shoveling Snow

Ben and Caroline barely recognize each other any more. Their once solid relationship now broken and beaten by unfathomable events, leaving only a shell of past promise. When pressure cracks the last vestiges of their bond, Ben hastily leaves their Southern California home, pointing the car east to what he hopes is the edge of the Earth. After driving until he can no further, he settles in the small, coastal town of Swintonport, Maine to lose himself in quiet and anonymity, renting the quaint guesthouse of Maggie and her ten-year-old daughter, Smoof. But when tragedy strikes his landlord’s family, Ben is confronted with a sobering truth reminiscent of the one he left behind.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Brett Sills shares a story of searching for a better place in his novel, Shoveling Snow. After receiving life changing news, Ben escapes California and doesn't stop driving until he hits the coast, searching for a better place in life. Smoof is a ten-year-old girl who has lived in Maine for less than a year. She and her mother left Boston after tragedy struck. Now she is searching for a way to make her mother better. Rose is a new teacher, who settled down in Maine after traveling the globe. She's searching for a better place to build to a relationship with the son she left behind. Life and luck have brought these three strangers together but it's up to them to use this happenstance as a guide to move forward. 

Ben was happy and hopeful. He was excited to see where life would take him. As a painter, he paid the bills and exercised his creativity. But after beginning a not-so-bad life with Caroline, things take a turn for the worse.  Now Ben is cynical. He's also rude, introverted, and completely lost. Readers learn right away that something pushed Ben to escape California. Something horrible. And throughout the novel, readers learn what happened to the love he once shared with Caroline through flashbacks. The first connection with Ben is through curiosity and wonder. As the plot continues and his secrets are revealed, empathy and understanding complete the connection. 

Smoof's mother is sick. Maggie spends most of her time in bed, leaving young Smoof to pay the bills and fend for herself. She has an atrocious attitude, is incredibly blunt while using inappropriate language, and secretly she just wants to be a little girl again. The sadness and unfairness of the situation create the initial bond between Smoof and readers. Her behavior is easily looked over as her world crumbles and she reaches out for any help she can get. 

Rose was young when she had her son, George. That doesn't excuse her leaving him and the father to travel the world. Now he lives a few towns away and she has a stack of letters that she has never mailed. Letters that explain, excuse, admit, and blame. But with her student Smoof, maybe Rose can make a difference. She has to try. Readers will first connect with Rose through her desire to help Smoof, but eventually sympathy and understanding will solidify the connection, even if readers don't agree with Rose's past choices. 

The plot of Shoveling Snow follows Ben across the country, from California to Swintonport, Maine. He moves into the guest house of Smoof and her mother. When Smoof gets into trouble, the school calls and they reach Ben. Thus, he is introduced to Rose. As each character battles their own demons, they find solace and understanding in each other. The entire novel is a heart wrenching story of loss, love, and wrong choices. Though the plot moves slowly, taking its time to reveal each detail, the intrigue lies in the mystery that is the past and the hope that could be the future. I liked that each of the characters were real. They had their flaws and Sills wasn't afraid to flaunt them. Though liking the actual characters took time, for one in particular it took the entire novel, Shoveling Snow breathes hope into finding a better place. Even if that place is the life left behind. 

Rating: 4/5 Cups