My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

I had no idea what my face was doing. In my mind, my eyes were wide with disbelief, my mouth opening and closing like a fish, my nostrils flaring with a barely contained exasperation. But outwardly, I must have been maintaining some semblance of control, because my brother was grinning at me like they’d just presented me with the greatest gift.

A four-year-old had lapped me twice and I officially left the last of my dignity back with my real shoes. I wasn’t going to see it again as long as I was wearing these wheeled bad boys.

Pat did appear to like animals way more than people. I had no doubt that she’d dangle a small toddler in front of an alligator if one came up the street.

I don’t regret giving you my heart, Phoebe. I just wish you’d taken more care with it.

My Review:

No serial killers were harmed, nabbed, or met during this story, although the main character of Phoebe had a somewhat disturbing lifelong fascination with them, to the extent of making them the focus of her doctoral dissertation on True Crime. Can you say, twisted sister?

These cleverly constructed and slyly paced storylines contained an odd dichotomy with an extremely angsty, graceless, and dark main character fleshed out and implanted into wryly humorous observations, heart-squeezing inner musings, a fledgling romance she wanted no part of, smoking hot sensual love scenes, and smirk-worthy comedic scenarios.

Phoebe was an acquired taste and difficult to fully appreciate most of the time as she was a smart yet prickly nerd with a sharp tongue. She was socially awkward and inwardly focused, yet self-sabotaging. I wanted to give her a pinch or ten and smack her with my Kindle more than once. Although she began to grow on me, bit by bit. Alicia Thomspon is a wily and insightful raconteur.

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

…she’s generally pretty chilled, but on the rare occasions I’ve seen her riled, she’s been terrifying.

My Review:

This was a refreshingly light, whimsical, and enjoyable read from start to finish. It was easy to follow and I didn’t mind the predictability of some of the plot lines as it proved to be just what I needed. Their route was still engaging and fun while remarkably remaining upbeat and humorous despite the inevitable bumps in their road. The writing was breezy and delightfully amusing as it laced the tale together with wry humor, a best revenge break-up make-over, and a surprisingly easy holiday romance. I enjoyed these endearing characters as much as their storylines.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

She tried the front door, expecting it to be unlocked for some reason, but found that they’d locked up before leaving. Seems silly to think about securing a house when the thing you’d most want to secure it against already happened. That’s like coming in from a bad storm and putting on a rain coat.

A little known thing about crime scenes, which Dale had not been aware of previously herself, is that once the police are done asking questions, and stomping around photographing things, marking things of interest to test or dust for prints, they leave you with the mess. Anytime you hear of a neighborhood shooting, or a suicide, or an arson, just picture people, on the darkest days of their lives, having to clean up all that horror.

That’s a thing that you don’t fully realize, until you’ve lost someone very close to you. It’s a thing that’s almost impossible to even describe. The away-ness of death. The gone-ness of it? It’s otherworldly. Ghostly, as a whole. like you yourself are a little less part of the living, just for having taken in the cold loss that it leaves behind.

My Review:

Other than a rather gruesome scene at the beginning and the first few chapters dealing with the aftermath, the storylines are mainly one woman’s inner musings and personal struggle with grief. While there were glimmers of keen insights and her profoundly visceral reactions to touchstones, the vast majority of the writing ground down into a rather tedious recitation of the minutiae of her deep depression as her life fell apart. I was invested in the first third of the book and felt the potential, but not being a fan of constant angst, I found the remainder to be rather dull while I kept waiting for something to spark. Alas, the last two-thirds of the book failed to engage.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Baileyville’s star quilter, Hotpants Ed (so named because if it’s above sixty-five degrees, he wears the shortest shorts you’ve ever seen everywhere he goes— and he’s a six-foot-tall man with a ponytail and a gray beard, so it’s a striking look).

How am I supposed to live vicariously through you if you won’t even share any details? I’ve already read all the Amish romance novels at the library, Sandy. I need drama.

I want to protest, but there are no words in my mind right now, just random bursts of punctuation. My entire body is an exclamation point.

I’d make a great mom. Sure, my kids wouldn’t know what vegetables are, and they’d probably get scurvy, but at least they’d be happy.

I know I’m always talking about how desperate I am for a man’s touch, but I’m not that desperate. I know what that man’s touch feels like, and unless he’s improved his technique in the past fifteen years, it mainly involves boob honks.

My Review:

This was a fun and lively tale that sparkled with clever wit and snarky banter that kept me smirking and giggle-snorting with glee. I fell right into the breezy and crisp storylines populated with an entire community of authentic yet recognizable small-town quirks and complications. I adored this from beginning to end and hit this talented wordsmith’s listing to see what else I could score as I definitely need more of this in my life.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

My memories are a nest of spiders suddenly caught in bright light. They skitter to dark corners.

“Scott and I have been divorced for three years. Heart problems did us in.” “Was he sick?” “No. He thought I was missing mine.”

My Review:

I have a new favorite author who has scribbled out an exceptional piece of writing with uncommonly engaging prose and evocative arrangements of words that smacked me around and squeezed my insides. I could see and hear these people and their revelations and interactions gave me chicken skin! The unpredictable yet realistically unbelievable while believable storylines were laced together with a powerfully emotive writing style that kept me on edge, nibbling on my cuticles, and anxious and even somewhat fearful to keep reading. I generally despise angst but this was fantastic!