The Wishing Tree

The Wishing Tree

Marybeth Whalen

In The Wishing Tree, Ivy Marshall, a savvy, determined woman, finds out her husband has cheated on her on the same day her sister's perfect boyfriend proposes on national television. When Ivy's mother asks her to return to her family's beach home to plan her sister's upcoming wedding, she decides to use the excuse to escape from the pain of her circumstances. When her return to Sunset Beach, North Carolina, brings her face to face with her former fiance, old feelings rise to the surface and she wonders if there is a future for them. However, her husband has started tweeting his apology to her and doesn't want to give up on their marriage. As she helps prepare the wishing tree for her sister's wedding, she must examine her own wishes for the future and decide what love should be. (from Netgalley

My Thoughts

 

This story has a lot going for it. It’s about love - lost love and found love, old love and new. It’s about family, misunderstandings, forgiveness and faith. The author did a great job of pulling this all together into a very lovely tale.

A nice, uplifting and spiritual story. This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Whalen and I definitely intend on checking out some of her other books.

Thanks to HCCP/Zondervan, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: June 4, 2013.

The Light in the Ruins

The Light in the Ruins

Chris Bohjalian

1943: Tucked away in the idyllic hills south of Florence, the Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe. Eighteen-year-old Cristina spends her days swimming in the pool, playing with her young niece and nephew, and wandering aimlessly amid the estate’s gardens and olive groves. But when two soldiers, a German and an Italian, arrive at the villa asking to see an ancient Etruscan burial site, the Rosatis’ bucolic tranquility is shattered. A young German lieutenant begins to court Cristina, the Nazis descend upon the estate demanding hospitality, and what was once was their sanctuary becomes their prison.

 Serafina Bettini, an investigator with the Florence police department, has her own demons. A beautiful woman, Serafina carefully hides her scars along with her haunting memories of the war. But when she is assigned to a gruesome new case—a serial killer targeting the Rosatis, murdering the remnants of the family one-by-one in cold blood—Serafina finds herself digging into a past that involves both the victims and her own tragic history(from Netgalley)

My Thoughts

The short review:

 

Brilliant! Go order this right now. You’re welcome.

The long review:

This story is told in alternating chapters. Some chapters are based in 1943 and others are in 1955. All is set in Italy. Interspersed are short chapters related to the individual who is killing the remaining Rosati family. The main female characters are Serafina and Christina. In 1943, both women are teenagers and in many ways are polar opposites of each other. Christina Rosati is a teenager who has everything to lose due to the ongoing war and Italy’s alliance with Germany. Slipping away is her privileged life as the only daughter of a marchese, along with her very first romance. Unfortunately, this romance is with a German officer. Serafina on the other hand has nothing to lose, because all for her is already lost. Her family has been killed and her only option is to join up with partisan’s fighting against the Nazis, who have been busy pillaging anything of value from Italy, under the guise of being allies.

By 1955, Serafina is a detective and is assigned to a investigate the case of who is gruesomely murdering the Rosatis. Because of this, she meets up with Christina. At this point, both women have more similarities than differences. Both carry the emotional scars that the end of the war brought them and Serafina has the added burden of physical scars from an event that occurred as the German’s were trying to flee Italy.

This story was very intense. It is one of those books that was so suspenseful, I did not want to put it down. I could not read fast enough, yet I didn’t want it to end. This was so well written that I felt every heartache, every scary moment, and at the end, I was surprised at the identity of the killer.

Chris Bohjalian is on my very, very short list of favorite authors. I have discovered that having “favorite” authors can be a double edged sword. Yes, in most instances, books that I have read by a favorite are typically very good. Sometimes though, the level of anticipation and expectation sets the bar so high that I’m not sure the books even have a fair chance to come up to snuff.

Not so with The Light in the Ruins. I thought this was outstanding and was far beyond anything I had expected. Bravo Mr. Bojhalian.

I am grateful to Doubleday Books, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: July 9, 2013.

The Book of Secrets

Elizabeth Arnold

After more than twenty years of marriage, Chloe Sinclair comes home one night to find that her husband, Nate, is gone. All he has left behind is a cryptic note explaining that he’s returned to their childhood town, a place Chloe never wants to see again.

While trying to reach Nate, Chloe stumbles upon a notebook tucked inside his antique copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Written in code, the pages contain long-buried secrets from their past, and clues to why he went home after all these years. As Chloe struggles to decipher the notebook’s hidden messages, she revisits the seminal moments of their youth: the day she met the enigmatic Sinclair children ane the increasingly dangerous games they played to escape their troubled childhoods; the first time Nate kissed her, camped out on the beach like Robinson Crusoe; and the elaborate plan she and Nate devised, inspired by Romeo and Juliet, to break away from his oppressive father. As the reason for Nate’s absence comes to light, the truth will forever shatter everything Chloe knows—about her husband, his family, and herself. (from Netgalley).

My Thoughts

 

When Chloe first meets the Sinclair children, she is just a young girl and the Sinclair family’s life seems idyllic. The Grace, Cecilia, Nate Sinclair are beautiful, their mother home schools them and they play strange games on their secluded property. The only oddity is Mr. Sinclair. Chloe cannot be around when he is home and he has some strange, mystical hold over the whole family. We learn bits and pieces of their growing up years as an adult Chloe, who has married Nate, tries to figure out what circumstance has caused her husband to suddenly disappears.

Each chapters is a different thread that the author has woven into a magical tale. This book really kept me guessing and I was very much caught off guard by what we discover at the end. This is another one of those books to relish in its detail as we watch all the pieces of the puzzle fall in place. Quite enjoyable!

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: July 2, 2013.

UNSEEN

Karin Slaughter

Will Trent is a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent whose latest case has him posing as Bill Black, a scary ex-con who rides a motorcycle around Macon, Georgia, and trails an air of violence wherever he goes. The cover has worked and he has caught the eye of a wiry little drug dealer who thinks he might be a useful ally. But undercover and cut off from the support of the woman he loves, Sara Linton, Will finds his demons catching up with him.

Although she has no idea where Will has gone, or why, Sara herself has come to Macon because of a cop shooting: Her stepson, Jared, has been gunned down in his own home. Sara holds Lena, Jared’s wife, responsible: Lena, a detective, has been a magnet for trouble all her life, and Jared’s shooting is not the first time someone Sara loved got caught in the crossfire. Furious, Sara finds herself involved in the same case that Will is working without even knowing it, and soon danger is swirling around both of them.

In a novel of fierce intensity, shifting allegiances, and shocking twists, two investigations collide with a conspiracy straddling both sides of the law. Karin Slaughter’s latest is both an electrifying thriller and a piercing study of human nature: what happens when good people face the unseen evils in their lives (from Netgalley)

My Thoughts

 

This book was very intense. From the beginning, there was an undertone of something or someone evil lurking. Who would turn out to be the bad guy?

Investigator Will Trent has a history with Detective Lena Adams. He is trying to create a future with Dr. Sara Linton. When these two worlds collide, all hell breaks loose. There were a few graphic parts that made me worry whether Will was going to make it to the end of the story. I kept telling myself - this is a series and surely the author wouldn’t do in a main character, but it sure did get tense.

 

I must say, this kept me on the edge of my seat!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Bantam Dell, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: July 2, 2013.