Two Dogs and a Book

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan My rating: 4 of 5 stars Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan is a clever thriller. This is a two-act story: past and present with the same actors. The story is well structured and the characters well grounded. Sarah Vaughan delivers a solid mystery-thriller which is both exciting and frustrating. Well done! View all my reviews

A Cart Full of Magic: Your Secret Supermarket Shopping List by Ileana Abrev My rating: 4 of 5 stars A big thank you to NetGalley and Llewellyn Publications for this whimsical ARC of A Cart Full of Magic: Your Secret Supermarket Shopping List by Ileana Abrev. I read this book on my way to visit with my parents in Québec. My mom used to tell me stories about her mother and how she used to be the country doctor in the early 19th hundreds. My grandmother was a “Sage Femme”. Way before doctors came along in that remote region of Québec, she delivered babies, provided natural remedies for colds, headaches, monthly discomfort, toothaches and many more illnesses. All this changed once doctors started to establish themselves in that region and started a campaign to discredit midwives. My grand-mother soon felt like this would turn into a witch hunt and abandoned her practice. Her craft was never passed on to her daughters, therefore, not to me either. When I...

Full Disclosure: A Novel by Beverley McLachlin My rating: 4 of 5 stars A big thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the exciting ARC of Full Disclosure by Beverley McLachlin. This is the first novel by Beverley MacLachlin. Ms. MacLachlin is the former Chief Justice of Canada and the first woman to hold that position. I was excited to read this book by a Canadian author and it did not disappoint. Full Disclosure is the story of Jilly Truitt a young defense attorney who takes on a highly publicised murder case which will change her life. Vincent Trussardi is accused of the murder of his wife Laura. Vincent claims his innocence but is hiding something. Jilly must dig deep to get to the truth and soon her life is threatened because she is getting too close to it. Jilly starts questioning everything and realizes that she is too personally involved in this case. But who is Laura Trussardi's killer and why did he or she kill her? Th...

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center My rating: 4 of 5 stars A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this wonderful ARC of How to Walk Away by Katherine Center. Margaret Jacobson has it all, an MBA, a dream job and a boyfriend whom she thinks will pop the question any moment. Chip has been taking flying lessons and is one step away to get his pilot license. On Valentine's Day, in an all romantic gesture, he decides to take Margaret on a plane ride and asks her to marry him. Margaret is terrified of flying but reluctantly agrees to go with him. Everything is going according to Chip's plans. He pops the question, she says yes and they are the happiest they can be until the weather changes. Chip is still new at flying and he is relying on his training to land the Cessna safely. After a few attempts to land, he loses control and the plane crashes. He is able to get out, but Margaret is pinned down and cannot move. Disaster st...

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was recommended by Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine Book Club. This is the story of Lucy and Gabe which starts on September 11, 2001 and spans over the following 13 years. Their relationship is intense and heartbreaking. The book is written in the voice of Lucy as a letter to Gabe. Beautifully written and deeply moving, this book will leave you breathless and most likely with a sad understanding that true love lasts forever. View all my reviews

One with You by Sylvia Day My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is the last book in the Crossfire series. This book was published a while back and It took me a while to fit it into my reading schedule. I enjoyed the Crossfire series and I hope they will make an HBO series with it. This series is much better than the 50 Shades of Grey, in my opinion. The first book was published in 2012 and the last one in 2016. The series covers about 4 to 5 months of Eva and Gideon's relationship. Eva and Gideon are unique individuals and their relationship is very heated. If you are looking for a great erotic romance, Crossfire is it. View all my reviews

The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding My rating: 4 of 5 stars I want to thank Goodreads and Penguin Random House Canada for giving me an ARC of The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding. Robin has been apart from her family for many years and for good reasons. After her mother passes away from cancer, her dad quickly marries Tara, Robin’s best friend. Tara was engaged to Robin’s brother Alec at the time and left him for his dad. Robin was not able to forgive her dad and Tara and promised herself never to go back to Red Bluff. But a call from her estranged sister leaves her no choice. Her father, Tara, and Cassidy, Tara’s daughter from a previous marriage, have been shot in what appears to be a home invasion gone wrong. Robin goes home to lend support to her sister, but she knows it will not be an easy task as her sister never liked her. Some things never change and Robin quickly discovers that it is not easy to fix a broken family. Robin’s father remains in a com...

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is the story of love, courage, and survival. In the early 70's, thirteen-year-old Leni moves to Alaska with her mother Cora and Ernt, her emotionally and mentally damaged father. Ernt was a POW in Vietnam and did not come back the same man. He is now fighting inner demons and is often violent towards his wife. He is hoping for a new start in Alaska, but Alaska is not an easy place to get a second chance. The wilderness can turn the sanest man into a monster. Leni meets Matthew and they become the closest friends. Four years after their arrival in Alaska; Leni's family is on the brink of disaster and Matthew will try to save Leni. I don't want to describe this book too much and spoil it for whoever wants to read it. All I can say is that this is a fantastic book; a well-written and plotted novel. This will be another bestseller in 2018. ...

Our Homesick Songs by Emma Hooper My rating: 3 of 5 stars I would like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for giving me an ARC of Our Homesick Songs by Emma Hooper in exchange for an honest review. I was attracted to this book because of the story location: Newfoundland. My hubby is originally from this wonderful place. He took me there two years ago for a visit and I fell in love with this magical place. Our Homesick Songs is a story of old tales, folk’s songs, mermaids, coming of age, changes, and hope. This lyrical saga jumps in time and tells the story of the folks of Little Running and Big Running. When the codfish were nowhere to be found, the Newfoundlanders left their boats and nets and moved to Alberta for work. Towns were abandoned and hope left with the people… except for one boy who is determined to bring back the codfish. Emma Hooper writes a beautiful story filled with folk’s songs and determination. The dialogues are sometime...

Women of the Dunes by Sarah Maine My rating: 4 of 5 stars I would like to thank NetGalley and Atria Book for providing me an ARC of Women of the Dunes by Sarah Maine in exchange for an honest review. The story goes back and forth between three timelines which described the lives of three women. The first timeline is about a Norsewoman in the ninth century named Ulla who escaped her evil Viking husband with her lover and sailed to Scotland. There, Ulla meets a monk upon her arrival and asks him to help to save her lover who was seriously wounded. Her lover dies, but a legend is birthed. The second timeline is about a Scottish servant woman in the nineteenth century named Ellen who lived on the estate where the legend of Ulla was born. Ellen is obsessed with Ulla’s story. She ends up leaving Scotland and moving to Newfoundland, but never forgot the legend and passed it on to her daughter who passed it on to her grand-daughter, Libby. The last timeline...