Jen's Blog

Who doesn't love Sophie Kinsella?  Well, I am sure some people are not a fan, but I know she is loved far and wide.  Sophie writes a fun, fast paced story that catches your interest right away and keeps you reading!  Her style of writing is so engaging I often find myself looking up at the clock and wondering how time has gone so fast! My (not so) Perfect Life wasn't any different.  It was light, fun, easy to read, entertaining and hilarious.  There was a little bit of romance as well...it hit all the right notes for me. Katie is the main character, she has always wanted to live in London and have a fabulous life and job.  The reality is that London is expensive and her job isn't that great, but she is optimistic and portrays her life the way she sees it ending up to everyone around her, and her Instagram followers. When Katie is fired from her dream job she is forced to move home and reevaluate her life a little.  She is not about to give up h...

Thanks NetGalley for the Advanced Readers copy! I wasn't too sure about this one the entire time I was reading it, and honestly I am still a little on the fence.  However, I will say it was fresh and new and unlike many other books.  This is how people communicate now...email and text so that was real. After the first few sections I got used to the dialog between the twins and I got more into their story.  In the end I was connecting to the characters and getting to know them, so maybe it just took me awhile to get into the story.  It's been about a week since I finished the story and when I think about it now I feel happy.  The story line was somewhat predictable but again a lot of fun. Overall, give it a try.  It was pretty good and the characters were a lot of fun.  3/5 stars on GoodReads.

This was a delightful book and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. It had everything I like in Women's Fiction, strong female friendship, women going through big changes in their lives and reflecting on their choices, clear resolutions to the story lines (mostly happy!) and a bit of romance.  It had humor as well, the neighborhoods email list was so funny and their was humor with the characters as well. This women's fiction book has a fun twist, it also contains a mystery!  Each of the women in the book have a secret, but we know most of the secrets as they unfold.  However the new neighbor Tess has a secret that even the readers don't know about, and it's a dark secret.  So there is intriguing in this story as well as the women't fictions themes.  This made the book so interesting and different than anything I have read in awhile!  It was fresh and fun!  Highly recommended. 4/5 Stars on Goodreads!

Nine Women, One Dress is Jane Rosen’s debut novel and it is a lot of fun!  The book is light, fun and interesting.  Rosen’s writing is quick and witty and keeps your attention from the first page.  You won’t want to put this one down.  The dress in question is being sold at Bloomingdale’s and is the last dress that a famous pattern maker designs.  It quickly becomes the dress of the season and everyone must have it.  There are nine women who wear the dress in question in this story and they all are in a different point in their lives.  After coming in contact with their dress something in their live changes in a big way, and Rosen does a great job of weaving the characters in the story together.  It’s really well done.  4/5 on Goodreads, put this on your to read list!  

I have not been posting a lot!  The back to school season has been rough with updating schedules, sporting and school events, working full time and adding a dog to our family!  I have been reading and listening to books though!  Here are a few I loved the last few weeks! Sweet Little Lies by Jill Shalvis: I finally got around to reading the first in the new Heartbreaker Bay series!  I read and reviewed the second one recently.  Click  HERE  for that post!  This one was just as fun as the first one.  I loved Pru and Finn's story.  I am really looking forward to the next ones in this series. Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbinson: I liked this one a lot more than the last one I read by her.  This story featured former best friends who have known each other since high school, Allie and Oliva.  Also, in the mix was their friend Noah who found himself in the middle of the two when they had a falling out.  Relationships ne...

The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay  by Kelly Harms was a delightful and fun book!  I really enjoyed the story and the characters.  I also loved that the book was set in Wisconsin, somewhere up north.  Being a Wisconsin girl born and raised it's so much fun to read about your home state.  I also enjoyed Lily and her portrayal of a cold Wisconsin winter. Lily, a struggling artist, comes to Minnow Bay to confront a husband she didn't know she had during a time of personal upheaval in her life.  Ben, the husband in question, didn't know about her and was not really receptive to her arrival.  Although I liked Ben at the end of the book I wasn't sure that I did in the beginning.  He was warm and then cold and a little bit wishy washy. This story was really about Lily and her quest to find her true path in life, and I highly recommend it! 4/5 stars on Goodread

First, thanks to Edelweiss for the Advanced Readers Copy.  I always like to try new authors.  Susan Bishop Crispell qualifies as a new author. This one was just OK for me...it had a lot of good things going for it, and I didn't hate it.  But it wasn't my favorite and I had a hard time staying engaged with the story.  I usually don't mind a book with magic in the story line, but this one I had a hard time with.  Rachel was a good character, but I didn't always find her and the others around her believable.  It lacked a bit of it's magic for me. An OK read, I loved the baking sections. 3/5 stars on Goodreads

As many of you know I am a reference librarian at my local library.  One of my duties, shared with the reference department, is writing blog posts for our reference blog.  I am pleased to share some of my blog posts here.  Topics range from  the personal, my life with diabetes, dieting and taking better care of myself to new authors I am falling in love with and genres that I want to share with others. Please visit my libraries webpage and take a look! Planning you Perfect Summer Vacation Beach Reads Women's Fiction Eat, Run, Live Keep Moving, Body and Soul Running Playlist Chick Lit Amish Romance

Falling by Jane Green is a beautiful story that reminds us all that sometimes families can take place in the most unexpected ways. Emma has moved the the East Coast from England, where she meets Dominic.  Much to her surprise she and Dominic hit it off despite their very different backgrounds.  She has never met anyone quite like Dominic and it turns out that having someone different in her life is exactly what she needed.  Dominic is also a single father and Emma finds herself falling in love with both father and son.  Sadly, tragedy strikes and Emma finds herself having to create a new happiness, fight for what she loves and form a new idea of family. It's a beautiful, well written book.  The unexpected ending threw me for a little bit of a loop (and drew a few tears out of me), but ultimate Green redeemed herself and I enjoyed the book very much! Thanks to Netgalley for the Advanced Readers Copy! Rated 4/5 pm Goodreads.

First, thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC!  I enjoyed getting to know a new author. The Becker's are quite the family!  Meryl and Hugh Becker have been married for 30 years and now are about to see all three of their daughters get married, at the same time.  Amy, Meg and Jo are all engaged to wealthy men and all of the marriages demand a big society wedding.  Meryl decides that the solution is a triple wedding, with People magazine paying for exclusive photos.  However chaos runs rampant and starts to threaten all of the carefully thought out plans. This is an honest book about love, and although all of the extravagant wedding preparations are very over the top each of the sisters, as well as Meryl, learn what true love looks like in their own eyes.  Although the ending isn't a traditional happy ending, it's exactly the happy ending each of these wonderful characters need and want. I struggled a bit with the rating on this book, I almost went with the ...