No Way Out

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer is a horror story.

The book begins by describing a crime scene with a skeleton and two horribly mutated bodies. Investigators are stumped.

Then it backtracks to the events leading up to the grisly scene. A foursome plans a hiking trip into a remote area of Kentucky. Clay and Sylvia are participating to complete grad research in an uncharted area. Dylan is an up and coming rock climber looking to impress her new sponsor by climbing in a new location. Her boyfriend Luke and his dog round out the group.

The trip starts to go terribly wrong. The area is eerily quiet, seemingly devoid of all life. Luke’s dog goes missing. Then he becomes badly injured. The group realizes they are in trouble when they are unable to find their way back to their car.

The place is rampant with the ghosts of previous victims. All subject to the evil of the place which gradually affects every member of their group.

This was a good change of pace with a creepy storyline a bit reminiscent of The Shining in parts.

Family Fortitude

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes is a family drama with a hint of romance.

Lila is going through a lot: regularly seeing her newly divorced husband’s pregnant mistress at school pickup, her stepdad’s progressive move in after her mother’s death, raising two daughters, her estranged famous actor father suddenly reappearing in their lives along with her own career/financial woes.

Meanwhile, Lila is trying to write a follow up to her recent bestseller (which was ironically about her great marriage). This book is going to be about her sexual escapades as a new divorcee. However, her sexual interests are also a little complicated.

There are sentimental and humorous scenes throughout the story as it’s told mainly from Lila’s point of view (with some chapters from her sixteen-year-old daughter Celie). This book will appeal to aged forty plus women looking for a book about relationships and overcoming tough times.

The Body

Fox by Joyce Carol Oates is a murder mystery. The victim is a serial pedophile named Mr. Fox. He was a middle school teacher at a prep school. His real name was legally changed after allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor at the previous prep school employer.

The book gets into his backstory including his psyche and manipulative methods for hooking young females and for gaining trust from important adults around him.

The story also follows others from town who have some connection to the murder investigation, including the brothers who discovered the body, a couple students and their dads, the chief investigator and a few others.

The scenes with Mr. Fox are deeply disturbing and continuously repeated through the book. I found myself skimming through by the end to be able to finish.

I would not recommend this book. It was dragged out, often repetitive and full of unlikable characters in addition to the detestable Mr Fox.

Up in the Air

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty is a story of unexpected connections.

Cherry is on a flight when she suddenly gets up and begins telling each passenger his or her expected age and cause of death.

Needless to say that this creates a sense of chaos, worry and denial amongst passengers. After the experience, readers follow a selection of passengers: Ethan is expected to die in a brawl, Leo is expected to die from a work-related incident, Paula’s baby son is expected to die in a drowning incident when he turns seven, Eve is a newlywed expected to die from domestic murder, Allegra is one of the flight attendants expected to die from self harm.

When a couple of the predicted deaths occur, people begin trying to find Cherry, dubbed the Death Lady.

Meanwhile, Cherry shares her story. She grew up with a fortune telling mother, Madame Mae. She experienced different loves in her life, all important in shaping her into the person she becomes.

Cherry’s narration is quirky and fun (despite the topic). As any book centered around death, it certainly makes one think about how precious life can be and about how little changes can potentially alter one’s fate.

Praying for Survival

Isola by Allegra Goodman is historical fiction set in France during the 1500s.

Marguerite lost both parents at a young age, and was left with a chateau and land. She stays there long enough to build a friendship with her teacher and her daughter. However, when her guardian/uncle Roberval sells her property, she is forced to live at his residence. The only familiar she has is her nursemaid/caregiver who vows to stay with her no matter what.

Roberval is a cruel guardian. He gives lessons as a way to seem caring, but is also prone to violence as a means of control. His desire for money and favor with the king prompts him to voyage to new land in Canada. Marguerite is forced to go with him.

During the journey, Marguerite falls in love with Roberval’s secretary. Their punishment is to be banished to a remote island. The three of them must learn to survive the harsh elements, lack of food and wild animals. Not all will survive. During this time, Marguerite must get through her darkest days to figure out her place in the world.

Spoiler – After two years, Marguerite is able to return home to share her story. She is forever changed and hopes to use her experience as a means of educating females of all classes.

While this story started a bit slowly for me, I became intensely interested in the fate of Marguerite and her companions. I didn’t realize the story was based on an actual person until reading the author’s note at the end. This really made it so much more impactful. It’s a story of survival, grit, love/loss, nature’s power, religion and learning about oneself.

Skating for Gold

The Favorites by Layne Fargo is about the competitive world of ice dance.

Katarina has longed to win Olympic gold for ice dance ever since seeing her idol, the fierce Sheila Lin, win two gold medals. Kat’s focus on winning becomes all consuming.

Kat and her true love Heath have bonded through many setbacks growing up which also gives their skating a unique chemistry. While competing, none other than Sheila Lin takes notice of them. She offers to train them at her academy in California alongside her twins- budding stars Bella and Garrett Lin.

The story follows Kat and Heath through the years- competitions, wins, losses, jealousy, partner changes and tumultuous relationships. Katarina shares her side of each event alongside snippets of the documentary about Kat and Heath’s quest for Olympic gold.

All told, this was a slow burning and entertaining read. I wanted them to win that gold!! While I read it on my kindle, I heard that the audiobook was really good. This makes sense for the documentary script format throughout.

True Loves

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall kept popping up in recommendation lists, and I can see why. It’s an engaging story of romance and tragedy.

Beth’s story is told through past and present events. In the past, we learn of her first true love with the wealthy, aspiring writer Gabriel. When this relationship falls apart, Beth ends up with kind, reliable Frank.

Frank and Beth live and work on his family farm and have built a good life together. But they have also experienced extreme tragedy with the loss of their nine-year-old son, Bobby (three years prior). His loss has profoundly affected their lives, including the life of Frank’s brother Jimmy. He had already gone through rough patches with drinking and fighting during his youth.

Beth’s feelings for Gabriel are renewed when he moves back to his childhood home along with his son Leo after a recent divorce. And she can’t help but feel affection for his son, who is the same age as Bobby when he passed.

In the present scenes, there is a trial for the murder of a farmer.

This is a true love triangle as Beth has built meaningful relationships with both men in her life. Past, present and future all paint an intense picture of grief, guilt, longing, secrets and forgiveness. This is a well-written and emotional read.

Diving In

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood gives Fifty Shades vibes, but in my opinion is much better, due to good editing and an overall more engaging story line.

Scarlett is a D1 diving and premed student at Stanford. Her intense drive for perfection has served her well, until an injury her sophomore year. She is cleared to dive again her junior year, but is facing major mental blocks both with diving and school.

Things begin to change when her co-diver, Pen, breaks up with swimming god and Olympian, Lukas. It turns out that Scarlett and Lukas share a desire to engage in BDSM. With Pen’s encouragement, they begin exploring a sexual relationship together.

But right from the start there seems to be more between them than good sex.

The story navigates Scarlett’s personal development as she overcomes her fear of another injury and failure. Of course it also follows Scarlett and Lukas’s complicated relationship.

Back in Time

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is a slow and satisfying historical fiction read taking place in Maine during 1789.

It is based on the life of Martha Ballard, an accomplished midwife in her community. Martha wrote daily diary entries and snippets of these are shared throughout the book.

One night following a delivery, Martha is called to inspect a dead man who was pulled from the frozen river. She determines that he was beaten and hung.

The dead man is one of two accused of raping the pastor’s wife. Martha testifies on her behalf, but it will be a long and trying journey in their hope for justice.

The second accused happens to be the town judge. He is determined to push Martha and her family out of their residence. He also is responsible for bringing a new doctor into town who attempts to derail Martha’s reputation.

More is revealed about Martha’s family and the townspeople through the long winter. Martha has a great impact on so many due to her role.

The author does an excellent job of marking the passage of time with story events, flashbacks and journal entries. Eventually, Justice comes about in an unexpected way, and Martha is able to solve the murder.

Unknown Roots

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros is the third book of the Empyrean series.

I spent a good part of the book confused about who’s who and uncertain of some events. Despite this confusion, book three is just as action packed as the first two of the series.

Violet is determined to find a cure for Xaden before he turns into a full venin. He’s lost control twice, and it’s only a matter of time before he fully turns. Added to her urgency is an attempt to find more of Andarna’s kind in order to restore the wardstone which will keep citizens safe. She digs into her family history to learn as much as she can.

Together with a select group, they embark on a journey to explore the isles. In doing so, they encounter long lost people and secrets that impact future events.

Standing in their way is a supreme venin, named Theophanie, who appears to have lightning wielding powers too. She is determined to turn Violet and to capture Andarna. And she is much stronger and faster than Violet.

There are battles, new forms of magic and romance scenes leading up to the final epic battle that will change everything.