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Cracks in the Sidewalk
by Bette Lee Crosby
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I found this novel truly heartbreaking as Claire in her husband experience so many losses. But Claire is resilient and a devoted mother and grandmother; she carries on with her life and makes a real difference to the children she fosters. The ending is cathartic.

Restore Me
by Tahereh Mafi
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This is the fourth installment in the Shatter Me series, and it marks the beginning of a new chapter in Juliette’s journey. It’s fascinating to witness how much Juliette has evolved since the first book. Her character development is one of the strongest elements of the series, and in this book, we see her step into a leadership role in a way that feels both powerful and deeply vulnerable. There were more revelations in this book, pieces that were left out in the first three books begin to unravel here, surrounding Aaron Warner and Juliette’s past. The way these storylines are expanded adds layers of depth and kept me turning the pages. We meet so many new characters and we get to explore them as people as well, which I really like. Tahereh Mafi’s writing continues to shine in this book. Her lyrical, emotional style captures the internal struggles of the characters so vividly that you can’t help but feel their pain and inner turmoil. Overall, I highly recommend this book, especially to readers who’ve been following Juliette’s story from the beginning.

After Happily Ever
by Jennifer Safrey
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"After Happily Ever" by Jennifer Safrey was a combination: "The Real Housewives of ______________" and "Fairy Tale Horror Stories"

The View From Lake Como
by Adriana Trigiani
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It feels so good to have a new Adriana Triggiani book to get lost in this summer. Jess Capodimonte Baratta is part of a big, messy, loving family that lives in Lake Como, NJ. Triggiani weaves her story full of wonderful characters between life in New Jersey and life in Lake Como in the Tuscany region of Italy. The work includes lots of Italian food and cultural descriptions that were so important in Triggiani’s prior stories. Jess works for her uncle Lou who owns a company that supplies white and blue marble sourced in Italiy for customers in NJ. We learn about the process of removing the marble from the hilltops. There is romance, culture, possible criminal involvement and amazing word pictures describing the beauty of the people, food, hills and lakes. I did not want this book to end.

The Missing Half
by Ashley Flowers
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Two women decide to investigate together the disappearance of their missing sisters. The sisters were taken in different incidents separated by only a few weeks. Both cases were reported as runaways. Nicole Monroe and Jenna Conner don’t believe that their sisters ran away, and are determined to investigate together to determine what really happened. A little bit of a different concept. I like my mysteries so it was a good read for me. This is one of those that some of the incidents seem a bit preposterous, but keep the plot going.

The American Daughters
by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
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The author’s style is difficult to read. The storyline is interesting.

The Wedding People
by Alison Espach
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Penelope Stone, the main character in Alison Espach's THE WEDDING PEOPLE, is at the end of her rope ....After years of unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant, her husband has divorced her. Her job is going nowhere. She has no family. Her cat has died. What's a person to do? What follows is Phoebe coming to terms with life ...or not. As the book states, the novel is "In turns absurdly funny and and devastatingly tender..." I loved the cast of characters she runs into as she runs for, or from, her life - the bridezilla bride, hopeful groom, hotel staff, and a group of friends and relatives that make up the wedding guests where Phoebe ends up. A very enjoyable read!

Everyone Is Lying To You
by Jo Piazza
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I really enjoyed this book about social media influencers, which I don’t follow and don’t know much about. It kept my interest and had a lot of twists and turns especially in the epilogues.

The Vanished
by Bill Pronzini
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The VANISHED by Bill Pronzini, written over 50 years ago, is a classic old time detective novel in the style of Sam Spade or The Maltese Falcon. "A dame walked into the office...." kind of story. This book is the second entry into a long running series that features the "nameless detective". The private detective is hired to find a women's missing fiance. The hunt is wonderful to follow in the pre cell phone, pre internet world that nameless inhabits. I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to read more of Pronzini's work.

The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits
by Jennifer Weiner
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Zoe and Cassie Griffin were once very close, but twenty years ago became estranged. They were both members of a rock band and an incident occurred one night which fractured their relationship. The book weaves the past and present together skillfully as we gradually learn what happened. The themes are sisterhood and forgiveness. Realistic and satisfying ending.
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