Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia {ARC Review}

March 30, 2021March 23, 2021 KalaLeave a comment

Blurb:

In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to learn more about her family history from her reticent mother and makes the snap decision to take in the daughter of a neighbor detained by ICE. Carmen, still wrestling with the trauma of displacement, must process her difficult relationship with her own mother while trying to raise a wayward Jeanette. Steadfast in her quest for understanding, Jeanette travels to Cuba to see her grandmother and reckon with secrets from the past destined to erupt.

From 19th-century cigar factories to present-day detention centers, from Cuba to Mexico, Gabriela Garcia’s Of Women and Salt is a kaleidoscopic portrait of betrayals–personal and political, self-inflicted and those done by others–that have shaped the lives of these extraordinary women. A haunting meditation on the choices of mothers, the legacy of the memories they carry, and the tenacity of women who choose to tell their stories despite those who wish to silence them, this is more than a diaspora story; it is a story of America’s most tangled, honest, human roots.

Review:

Do you know what is better or just as good as a book that is 350 plus pages? A book that is less than 250 pages but packs a powerful punch. That is exactly what you get when you decide to read Of Women and Salt. I was not fully prepared for the story that I was going to ingest when I picked up this book. I honestly thought it was going to be one of those deep, but quick reads. Boy, was I wrong.

This story follows women who are dealing with the world thru addiction, immigration, abuse, and love. The different points of view showcase how complex the world is for women. It shows how women have to deal with so much trauma and at the same time fight to survive. Especially women of color.

I found myself so invested in Jeannette’s story and followed her point of view very closely. She not only had to deal with her addiction, she also had to deal with childhood abuse and hold on to a secret about her father that doesn’t surface until after his death. Her mother, Carmen is completely clueless as to what has gone on in her home. At first I was very angry with Carmen and thought she was just clueless but as more of her story develops you understand that she has demons that she hasn’t dealt with herself.

Ana’s and Gloria’s story is also one that is full of heartbreak and desperation. The lengths a mother goes to in order to provide and protect her family, especially her children. The same can be said for Carmen’s mother, Delores. That was a relationship I wanted to see if more developed after the revelation of what Carmen saw as a child.

In all, this 200 page book could have easily been a 350 plus page book with all the intensity that it had packed into it. I don’t know how Ms. Garcia did it but it is well appreciated. This book was a much better read than some other books that I have read that feature the subject of immigration and racism.

Rating:

4 Golden Girls

Availability:

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook on March 30, 2021

A special thank you to Flatiron Books for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

addiction · Blog Tour · book review · books · contemporary fiction · diversity · Family · love · reading · secrets · Women's fiction

Judge’s Girls {Suzy ‘s Approved Book Tours}

December 15, 2020December 15, 2020 KalaLeave a comment

Blurb:

Beloved Georgia judge Joseph Donaldson was known for his unshakable fairness, his hard-won fortune–and a scandalous second marriage to his much-younger white secretary. Now he’s left a will with a stunning provision. In order to collect their inheritance, his lawyer daughter Maya, her stepmother Jeanie, and Jeanie’s teen daughter, Ryder, must live together at the family lake house. Maya and Jeanie don’t exactly get along, but they reluctantly agree to try an uneasy peace for as long as it takes…

But fragile ex-beauty queen Jeanie doesn’t know who she is beyond being a judge’s wife–and drinking away her insecurities has her in a dangerous downward spiral. Fed up with her mother’s humiliating behavior, Ryder tries to become popular at school in all the wrong ways. And when Maya attempts to help, she puts her successful career and her shaky love life at risk. Now with trouble they didn’t see coming–and secrets they can no longer hide–these women must somehow find the courage to admit their mistakes, see each other for who they really are–and slowly, perhaps even joyfully, discover everything they
could be.

Review:

A story about grief and how three women who loved the same man in different aspects deal with his unexpected death.

Maya, who is Judge’s daughter from his first marriage has now lost both parents and the grief of her father’s passing is devastating. But because of the morals and ethics her father instilled in her, she pushes forward and her grieving is limited. This is a situation that a lot of people find themselves in and don’t really know how to handle their grief and because of that, their grief bleeds into other parts of their lives.

Jeanie who is Judge’s second wife has let grief completely overtake her to the point of self destructive behavior. I could almost relate to the pain that she was going thru even though at times I felt she was playing the victim a bit too much at times.

Ryder who is Jeanie’s daughter and Judge’s stepdaughter is caught between her own grief and hiding her mother’s destructive behavior from Maya.

Each woman must learn how to grieve and how to get along. Maya and Jeanie must learn how to do this without depending on Ryder to be their buffer. She has her own issues as a teenager to deal with on top of losing the man she knew as her father.

This was a good story to show that people deal with grief differently and that families can still come together. Having lost both of my parents this was a story that I could definitely relate to.

Rating:

3 Golden Girls

A special thank you to Suzy’s Approved Book Tours for having me on this tour and to Kensington Books for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

addiction · Blog Tour · book review · books · contemporary fiction · Family · love · secrets · Women's fiction

Rules For Moving by Nancy Star {Suzy’s Approved Book Tours}

October 11, 2020October 11, 2020 KalaLeave a comment

Blurb:

To the outside world, beloved advice columnist Lane Meckler has all the answers. What no one knows is that she also has a secret: her life is a disaster, and it’s just gotten worse. Her husband, whom she was planning to leave, has died in a freak accident. Her six-year-old son, Henry, has stopped speaking to everyone but her. Lane’s solution? Move. Growing up, that was what her family did best.

But when she and Henry pack up and leave, Lane realizes that their next home is no better, and she finally begins to ask herself some hard questions. What made her family move so often? Why has she always felt like an outsider? How can she get Henry to speak?

On a journey to help her son find his voice, Lane discovers that somewhere along the way she lost her own. If she wants to help him, she’ll need to find the courage to face the past and to speak the truth she’s been hiding from for years.

Review:

What I liked about this story and most of the stories that I have read from Lake Union Press is how close to reality they are. They take events that can happen in everyday life and bring them to the page in a way that the reader understands. In this story we have a Lane who is somewhat of a control freak. But not in the usual way of the phrase. She is a control freak of her emotions and you find out why throughout the story. Our childhoods have such an adverse affect on how we take on adulthood and this story was a great representation of that.

Between a childhood tragedy and the sudden loss of her husband, Lane is somewhat forced to face things from her childhood and in her life. During this time, her son Henry is dealing with his own conflicts which seem terribly heavy for a six year old boy. To be so young and have experienced trauma at such a young age, Henry is very receptive of the world around him. His silence allows him to see things that most adults miss or do not understand.

Both Henry and his mother have to find their voices as they take on life after tragedy. They both have to step back, forget the rules and then move forward. On their move forward, relationships are built, secrets are learned, old lives are brought back together, and new lives are brought together.

Sometimes we have to break the rules in order to find freedom in life from conflict.

Rating:

2 girls( 3.5 Stars)

Availability:

Available now in paperback, ebook and audiobook

A special thank you to Suzy’s Approved Book Tours and Lake Union Press for my free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

abuse · addiction · book review · books · Bootlegging · Family · Historical fiction · reading · secrets · Women's fiction

Etiquette For Runaways by Liza Nash Taylor {Suzy’s Approved Book Tours}

August 6, 2020August 6, 2020 KalaLeave a comment

Blurb

1924. May Marshall is determined to spend the dog days of summer in self-imposed exile at her father’s farm in Keswick, Virginia. Following a naive dalliance that led to heartbreak and her expulsion from Mary Baldwin College, May returns home with a shameful secret only to find her father’s orchard is now the site of a lucrative moonshining enterprise. Despite warnings from the one man she trusts—her childhood friend Byrd—she joins her father’s illegal business. When authorities close in and her father, Henry, is arrested, May goes on the run.
May arrives in New York City, determined to reinvent herself as May Valentine and succeed on her own terms, following her mother’s footsteps as a costume designer. The Jazz Age city glitters with both opportunity and the darker temptations of cocaine and nightlife. From a start mending sheets at the famed Biltmore Hotel, May falls into a position designing costumes for a newly formed troupe of African American entertainers bound for Paris. Reveling in her good fortune, May will do anything for the chance to go abroad, and the lines between right and wrong begin to blur. When Byrd shows up in New York, intent upon taking May back home, she pushes him, and her past, away.
In Paris, May’s run of luck comes to a screeching halt, spiraling her into darkness as she unravels a painful secret about her past. May must make a choice: surrender to failure and addiction, or face the truth and make amends to those she has wronged. But first, she must find self-forgiveness before she can try to reclaim what her heart craves most.

Review

I am beginning to think that maybe WW2 historical fiction isn’t my favorite anymore. I think it is fiction told during the Jazz Age, which is also part of the war time but has its own vibe to it. More stories seem to include black characters and touches on the struggles that they dealt with during this time instead of an author acting like they didn’t exist.

May has had a very unconventional upbringing. She was raised by her father after her mother left them. She also experienced trauma as a young child when her infant brother died. Though all that happened she was able to grow into a fine young lady and go off to school. Now being a bit naive caused her to get in a bit of trouble and that sent her back home. Her strength faltered slightly and in my opinion that was expected considering what she was dealt with and then coming home to an alcoholic father who is selling illegal moonshine.

You get a sense that May experienced some deep depression but she does manage to get thru it. You also see her picking up her strength as she decides that she is going to leave home and pursue a career even though every one around her, including her childhood best friend Byrd. Once her mind was made up, there was no changing it and May did what she could to get to New York which was a totally different vibe from her home state of Virginia.

May is chasing her dream and also chasing the ghost of her mother. She has to quickly learn that life in New York is not like the life she led in Virginia. She has some minor setbacks but she doesn’t let that deter her. Her determination helped land her a job in Paris. Once again she was chasing her dream and the ghost of her mother. Once in Paris, life was not what she thought it was going to be. The war was just starting and her fellow Parisian coworkers treated her as if she didn’t know anything.

Throughout everything May went thru, she continued to push forward even if she made some reckless decisions and put herself in some pretty shady situations.

I am glad that she finally learned the truth about her mother so that she could stop chasing that ghost. She also found her footing in life.

This book touched on so many issues and one of the things that I enjoyed about it is that the author did not try to round the edges of these situations to make readers feel more comfortable. I feel that the ending was realistic and a great fit for this story.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for historical fiction with a strong female lead who deals with real life issues and to anyone looking for a story that is not all flowers and sunshine.

Availability:

Available August 18th in hardcover and ebook.

A special thank you to Suzy Approved Book Tours for having me along on this tour and for the gifted copy. Also, thank you to Blackstone Publishing for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

book review · books · contemporary fiction · dedication · Family · love · reading · romance · secrets · Women's fiction

What You Wish For by Katherine Center {ARC Review}

July 23, 2020 KalaLeave a comment

Blurb:

Samantha Casey loves everything about her job as an elementary school librarian on the sunny, historic island of Galveston, Texas—the goofy kids, the stately Victorian building, the butterfly garden. But when the school suddenly loses its beloved principal, it turns out his replacement will be none other than Duncan Carpenter—a former, unrequited crush of Sam’s from many years before.

When Duncan shows up as her new boss, though, he’s nothing like the sweet teacher she once swooned over. He’s become stiff, and humorless, and obsessed with school safety. Now, with Duncan determined to destroy everything Sam loves about her school in the name of security—and turn it into nothing short of a prison—Sam has to stand up for everyone she cares about before the school that’s become her home is gone for good.

Review:

I can’t lie, the cover of this book and the fact that I loved the last two Katherine Center books is what made me want to read it. I read the synopsis after adding it to my TBR. Which I have to admit that I must have only skimmed it because once I picked up the book to read it, I wasn’t sure what was in store for me.

As usual, Katherine weaves a story that has heavy content while still keeping it light and entertaining. Catching your emotions off guard while making you think about what you would do in each character’s situation. I liked the character development of both Sam and Duncan, although Duncan kind of irritated me when he first showed up. As the story moves forward you begin to understand why he comes in with guns hot (pun intended there. You’ll understand if and when you’ve read this book).

Sam is another female character of Katherine’s who has to do some self-discovery even though at the beginning of the story she is already more sure of herself than she gives herself credit.

I do wish there had been a little more insight into Duncan’s life but I understand that this was not his story. The same goes for wanting more insight into the lives of Tina and her husband Kent. Wait, no I didn’t. I had enough of Kent with his on page time. What a dislikable character. Katherine hit the nail on the head with him.

This may not have been my favorite Katherine Center book, it will not stop me from waiting impatiently for her next story. Also, I need to go and get her backlist read.

Availability:

Available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook

A special thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Tour · book review · contemporary fiction · love · reading · romance · secrets · Women's fiction