Reviews: THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET & THE MAGNOLIA PALACE
Happy Friday fellow bookworms! I don’t know about you but I’m so ready for the weekend. Today I’m sharing reviews for new book releases for two of my favorite authors, Diane Chamberlain and Fiona Davis. Both books feature rich history, compelling characters, and intriguing mysteries that kept me fully captivated as I was reading.
The Last House on the Street Goodreads Author: Diane Chamberlain
Publication Date: January 11, 2022
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
My first 5 star read of the year is The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain, a beautifully written work of historical fiction with such a compelling element of mystery that it kept me turning the pages long into the night.
The story follows a young woman named Kayla who is about to move into her new home in Round Hill, North Carolina. She is unexpectedly confronted by a strange woman who tells her she shouldn’t move into the house, that the house should never have been built there in the first place. Kayla is rattled by this and when strange things start happening on the property, she is downright spooked.
It’s obvious someone is trying to scare her into leaving. Something terrible clearly happened on her property and Kayla is determined to find out what. Ellie, a neighbor down the street seems like she may know more than she’s telling. Kayla stops by Ellie’s house, hoping to befriend her since hers is the only other house on the street. But every time Kayla tries to talk to her, particularly if it’s anything about the history of Round Hill and in particular the property Kayla’s house now sits on, Ellie clams up and gets extremely defensive.
The story is told in dual timelines, Kayla’s which is present day, and Ellie’s, which takes us back to the 1960’s and the Civil Rights Movement. What we get as the threads from the two timelines come together is a powerful and heartbreaking story filled with secrets, lies, shocking prejudice and violence, forbidden love, as well as a quest for justice.
Wow, what a book! Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. I was just dying to know what the heck happened at Kayla’s house all those years ago and I cried when the truth came out and the full scope of the tragedy was revealed. It was so heartbreaking and made all the more poignant by Chamberlain’s exquisite writing. 5 STARS
The Magnolia Palace Goodreads
Author: Fiona Davis
Publication Date: January 25, 2022
Publisher: Dutton
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
New York City is my favorite city and I love learning the history of its many landmarks so Fiona Davis’ historical fiction novels are always such a treat for me. In her latest novel, The Magnolia Palace, Davis gives us an inside look at the history behind the iconic Gilded Age mansion that we now know of as The Frick Collection. Not only do we get to explore the rich history behind the mansion and the wealthy Frick family who lived there, but Davis also gives us an engrossing mystery or two to sink our teeth into as well.
Davis explores all things Frick using two very compelling timelines, one set just after World War I and the other set during the 1960s. The early timeline follows Lillian Carter, a famous artists’ model who has found herself embroiled in a scandal and wanted for questioning by the police in connection with a murder. Lillian needs a place to hide until she can get out of town and follow her dreams to Hollywood. She somehow manages to luck her way into a job as the private secretary of Miss Helen Frick. Lillian thinks she’ll be able to hide in plain sight while earning money to pay for her trip west, but she has no idea what she has signed on for. She soon finds herself hired by Helen’s father to secretly play matchmaker for her, and even gets caught up in a web of lies involving stolen family jewels and yet another murder. Lillian is an intriguing and resourceful heroine and I thoroughly enjoyed watching her navigate the endless minefield of drama that seems to surround the Fricks.
The second timeline features an equally resourceful and intriguing heroine that is easy to root for. Veronica, like Lillian, is a model, and also like Lillian, finds herself unexpectedly at the Frick House. Veronica is there for a big modelling job and is trying to earn enough money to help support her family after the death of her father. Veronica gets fired from the job after butting heads with the arrogant photographer and then somehow ends up locked in the building overnight. While looking for a way out, she stumbles upon a dusty old packet of what appears to be clues for a scavenger hunt and decides to try to follow them since she has nothing else to do. Following those clues leads her on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica’s financial troubles but it also leads her to the truth about the now decades-old murder that we see in Lillian’s timeline.
I loved the way Davis wove the threads of these two timelines together. I was a little more captivated by the old Hollywood glamorous feel of Lillian’s timeline, but honestly, both made for great reading because I was invested in both Lillian and Veronica’s stories and completely fascinated by the Fricks.
If you’re interested in learning more about one of New York’s most iconic buildings and families, and in being entertained by an engaging mystery while you learn, be sure to check out The Magnolia Palace. 4 STARS
Top Ten Tuesday – 2021 Releases I Was Excited to Read But Didn’t Get To
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Most Recent Additions to 2021 Releases I Was Excited to Read But Didn’t Get To. I’m forever behind on new releases I want to read so I could probably easily do a list three times this long, but I restrained myself and picked ten I truly wished I could have squeezed in last year.
2021 Releases I Was Excited to Read But Didn’t Get To
1. THE GUNCLE by Steven Rowley
2. HERE’S TO US by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
3. YOU’LL BE THE DEATH OF ME by Karen McManus
4. EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE by Jay Kristoff
5. SURVIVE THE NIGHT by Riley Sager
7. SIX CRIMSON CRANES by Elizabeth Lim
8. IN THE WILD LIGHT by Jeff Zentner
9. THE SECRET BRIDESMAID by Katy Birchall
10. THE LADIES OF THE SECRET CIRCUS by Constance Sayers
* * * * * *
Question: Have you read any of these?
Reviews: HOW TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR & MUST LOVE BOOKS
Hey everyone! Today I’m sharing reviews for some contemporary fiction. These two novels will be out in the world on January 18, 2022, so you won’t have to wait long if they sound like something you would be interested in. I enjoyed Sophie Sullivan’s last novel, <em>Ten Rules for Faking It</em> so I was excited to learn that her new novel How to Love Your Neighbor takes place in the same world and we get to see Everly and Chris from the first novel again. I’ve also been wanting to read more debut novels so I was excited to be approved for Shauna Robinson’s book.
How to Love Your Neighbor Goodreads Author: Sophie Sullivan
Publication Date: January 18, 2022
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan is an absolute delight. It’s an enemies-to-lovers romance that is packed with equal parts heart and humor, not to mention a healthy dose of interior design and home renovations.
Life is going pretty well for Grace Travis. She is currently finishing up her degree in interior design and she has just inherited a cute little house on the beach from her grandmother. Grace can’t wait to fix the house up so that she has a place of her own. There’s just one problem. Her neighbor Noah Jansen is a successful real estate developer and he wants to buy her house so he can tear it down and make his property larger. Noah is also a jerk, or at least Grace thinks so anyway, even though she has to admit that he’s a pretty cute jerk.
I was hooked from the moment Grace and Noah first encounter each other – a hilarious meet-cute on the beach involving a collision and two enormous and overenthusiastic dogs named Tequila and Lime. They didn’t know they were neighbors at this point and the chemistry between them was so undeniable. Then when they realized they were neighbors and started butting heads over whether or not Grace should sell her house to Noah, the sparks really started to fly. I loved Grace so much. She’s strong and independent, creative and resourceful, and she’s hilarious on top of it. When it came to Noah, at first I agreed with Grace, that he was a jerk used to always getting his way by throwing money at what he wanted. But the more we learn about him after he and Grace come to an understanding, the more I loved him. He’s a lot more vulnerable than he lets on, especially because he has a strained relationship with his father.
Watching Grace and Noah’s relationship grow was my favorite part of the story. Not only do they agree to a truce, but they even start helping each other with their home renovations. I really loved all the scenes involving interior design and painting, especially if they led to opportunities for flirting and sassy banter or if they involved the fabulous cast of secondary characters that are in the book, including Noah’s siblings and a grumpy but lovable elderly man named Morty who is like a dad to Grace. Aside from getting flirty with each other, Grace and Noah also learn a lot from each other, including how to support one another when dealing with dysfunctional parental relationships. I especially loved that aspect of their relationship and it had me flying through the pages hoping they would get a happy ending together.
If you’re in the mood for a light-hearted romantic read with a side of family drama, How to Love Your Neighbor is a great choice. 4 STARS.
Must Love Books Goodreads
Author: Shauna Robinson
Publication Date: January 18, 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
I’m always drawn to books about books and book lovers so I couldn’t resist requesting Shauna Robinson’s debut novel, Must Love Books. I’m so glad I did too because I think the journey of self- discovery the protagonist Nora Hughes embarks on is one that will resonate with many readers, especially anyone who is searching for their “dream” job or anyone who thought they had their “dream” job until it became more of a nightmare than a dream.
Nora loves books and all she knows when she starts looking for her ideal job is that it has to somehow involve books. When she lands an editorial assistant position at Parsons Press, she is in heaven because what could be better than working for someone who actually puts books out in the world. Nora’s job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, however, and after a series of layoffs and corporate restructuring, she finds herself bogged down in administrative tasks like ordering lunches and office supplies rather than doing much that is directly involved with the books themselves. It’s a bit disheartening for Nora as is but then things take an even worse turn and she is asked to take a 15% cut in her pay. Nora can barely make ends meet with her existing salary, so when her pay is cut, she is forced to take drastic measures and secretly takes on part-time freelance work at a rival publishing company.
About the only thing that makes her happy at all these days is Andrew Santos, a bestselling Parson author who has taken an interest in Nora after they exchange some flirty banter involving avocados, of all random things. As the two of them grow closer, Nora finds herself uncertain of where her loyalties should lie – the full-time job she has but hates or the freelance job that has the possibility of becoming permanent if she could score a big author like Andrew for them even though it involves manipulating Andrew. All Nora knows is that she is so unhappy that her mental health is suffering, so something has got to give.
Even though there is the possibility of a budding romance there with Andrew, Must Love Books is really all about Nora and her search for what is going to make her happy both personally and professionally. Nora is a very likeable and relatable character in the sense that we’ve pretty much all been where she is at some point in our lives, that crossroads where you have to make some tough choices if you’re ever going to change your life. I was rooting hard for her to find the happiness and sense of fulfillment she deserves. I also liked that the author presents what Nora did with the two rival publishers in a very realistic manner and that the character development is equally realistic. Nora is not presented as a hero trying to stick it to the company that has wronged her; instead, there are real consequences for what she does, and she really doesn’t like the person she becomes while she’s living this double life of secrets and lies.
If you’re in the mood for a heartfelt, reflective story about finding yourself and your place in the world, definitely check out Must Love Books. 4 STARS