After the Bloom

In the mid-1980's Lily goes missing, something she has done before, but never for long periods of time.  Her daughter knows her mother wanders off and suffers from dissociation and memory lapses.  The police reluctantly take the case and Rita feels they are not taking things seriously, so she takes matters into her own hands and begins her own investigation. Rita quickly discovers various family secrets including her family's  internment at a camp in the California desert during the Second World War, and the father she has never known.  Through her search Rita learns more about her family, her mother, and herself than she imagined. 




** I will start this review off by saying I received this book for net galley for an honest review. If you review books and haven't signed up for Netgalley, then you are missing out on some great opportunities.**




I have gotten more and more into books like this and I am loving the things that I am learning and they way it is changing my views as a reader and woman.  There are aspect of our history that we don't know about because we don't do much research anymore.  In this novel a woman begins a search for her  mother and gains so much more understanding of her mom, family, and begins to understand herself in the process.  I love how these books make me look at myself, even sometimes look at my mom and wonder what are some things she experienced that I don't know about, how has her life shaped her into the woman she is.


This is a book that touches your hear and makes you long for something more.  It does have suspenseful moments, but not in the edge of your seat kind of suspense, but the anticipation that builds and grows until you cannot hold it in any longer. It is very well written and easy to get lost within.  While this isn't my normal genre I go to, I did enjoy reading Leslie Shimotakahara's novel.  I will be looking for more from her and give this a 5 out of 5.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Catherine Land answers an ad in the paper for a reliable wife, she sends along a picture with her letter describing herself as a simple and honest woman.  Ralph Truitt is looking for a companion a woman to help spend his days with.  He also wants his astranged son to come home, what he doesn't know is the secrets his son and new wife hold.

When I started reading this book I was sure if I would like it.  It was slow to begin and hard to get past some of the background description and things leading up to the plot twists.  Even then I found myself wanting to skip over parts that got to be boring and long winded.  The plot seemed to be one I had read before.   Woman married a man with a plot to kill him and take his money l.  Granted some aspects of the story are different and unique to Goolrick.I  didn't feel sympathy for any of the characters except for Mrs. Larsen, but she seemed to be the only genuine and hones person in the whole story.  Every one else had their own agendas and seemed to be using each other to meet those agendas.  Truitt came off as being a complete push-over when it came to Catherine even when he figured out what was happening, he didn't care.

It was a little more difficult to get to the end of this one than some of the other books I have read.  I was a little disappointed in it because I heard such great things and I didn't find it to be what others made it out to be.  I can see why a lot of people enjoyed the book, but I think I was expecting more suspense, more action, Truitt putting up more of fight.  The only suspenseful part (if you can say it's suspenseful){SPOILER} was towards the end when Andy tries to rape Catherine and she stabs him. I am not sure what I was expecting.

I would give this book a 3 out of 5 because while there are some things I didn't like about it there were some good points like the descriptions and dialog.  It was a well written book, just a well written book that didn't tickle my fancy.  I am sure other people would enjoy the book.  Even though I was  not a fan of this book, I am interested in reading some of Goolrick's other books to see if I would enjoy them as well because he does have an interesting writing style.

The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson

Kitty finds herself dreaming of another world, one where she met the man of her dreams and had the family she always wanted, sort of.  She begins to struggle to determine which world is the reality and which is the dream.  Could she be running from something she doesn’t want to face?  Between the two worlds, Kitty begins to learn new things about herself and discover there are things we wish to escape, but cannot and need to learn how to process and deal with the properly before she is lost within herself.

I was a little skeptical about this book because it is outside of my normal genre of reading material, but it sounded interested and sometimes it is good to step outside of your norm.  I have to say this book was a well written novel.  It was easy to tell when the scenes switched realities as Kitty expressed concern about it when she would awake or go to sleep, those are good transition points for something like this.  There were some twists and surprises such as her son having Autism, though I kind of wish more was done with this than what readers see.  There was a wide range of possibilities that could have happened but didn’t.  The book seemed to focus on one aspect of the disorder rather than other aspects.  It did a good job portraying the mindset regarding how others viewed Autism in the 1950’s which is vastly different from what we know today.

I felt like I wanted more of Katheryn (Kitty in the other world) I wanted to see her trying more rather than being aloof and hands off.  It wasn’t until almost the end when she started to interact more, but I suppose that goes with thinking she was in a dream rather than reality.  I liked that there were not obvious clues as to which was real and which was a dream.  The readers found out at the same time that Katheryn figured it out.  The book had a lot of potential, but seemed to fall short in some areas, drag in some and others completely not make sense.  But regardless of that, I still enjoyed reading it.  Funny how something are easily overlooked for what could be a good story.  I look forward to other books by this author.  I give this a rating of 3 out of 5.  I would recommend it to anyone who likes chick-lit books, but with a disclaimer that it is not the typical chick-lit theme.

Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

As a young girl, Nell was abandoned on a ship destined for Australia and was taken to the dock master once the ship docked. whom takes her in and raises her as his own.  Nell arrived with nothing but a suitcase and a book of fairy tales.  When she turned 21 the dock master and his wife revealed the truth to Nell.  She then travels to England to find out the truth about her past, and who she really is.  Nell's journey leads her to Blackhurst Manor.  After she passes away Nell's granddaughter Cassandra picks up the quest and begins to unlock the secrets of the forgotten garden and the book of fairy tales.

I instantly fell in love with this novel.  This is one of the reasons why I do not limit myself to a genre, if I had I would have miss out on a gem of a book.  I read this as a part of a book club, and as I said, I fell in love with Kate Morton.  Her writing is beautifully elegant.  The story she weaves has mystery, romance, and intrigue, everything I love in a good book.  It was difficult to put it down, and I lent it to my best friend to read.  It is a lengthy read, but you wouldn't know it is a couple hundred pages long until you have finished the book. 

Her characters a finely drawn and reveal elements of sophistication and grace.  The male characters ad whimsy and don't overshadow the female characters as you might find in many novels.  Readers watch as the story intermingles love, life, anger, and betrayal into the women's lives.  The book does which perspective between the years, but the focus is on the years 1913, 1975, 2005.  That can get difficult, but after a while you get used to it.  I think that the changes in perspective gives the story and in depth quality.  It adds to the understanding of how characters get to the points in their lives that they are.  We learn of where Nell has been and how she grew up to be the woman Cassandra loves and bonds with and why the quest becomes so important.

Forgotten Garden is a wonderful book and got me to purchase another on of Kate Morton's books Secret Keeper which is sitting on my to read list.  I would give this novel a 3.5 out of 5 because the changes in perspective does make it a little difficult to get wrapped up into the story.

RedDress Two Wives by RA Winter

RedDress Two Wives By RA Winter is the third book in her Kiowa in love series.  One of the great things about the series is you don't need to read the books in order, but I would recommend doing so because things are referenced in each books that relate to the previous ones.

RedDress follows Sarah who is RedHorse's sister (we meet Redhorse and other characters in previous novels), she travels with Painted Girl to New York to help work on a project.  While there she begins a sorid affair with John, a man she had been flirting with for months over the phone.  She quickly discovers this is not just a fling, but she has some strong feelings towards him, maybe even love.  Once the girls return home, all kinds of mischief breaks out and humorous situations ensue.  Everyone has a plan for each other and most of those plans collide.  Grandfather learns a quick lesson about trying to manipulate his grandchildren, and the girls learn a lesson in life and love.

RA Winter does it again with this book, she really knocks it out of the park.  I had fallen in love with her writing with Little Sparrow, and I continue to love her books.  One of my favorite things is while this is a romance novel, the focus is on the relationship building rather than the sexual aspect.  She shows how each couple builds their relationship and fall in love with one another.  All the while there is humor and comedic situations, the moments with Dingle are amazingly funny.  One gets the feeling that he may be a spirit animal of sorts. 

I enjoyed how she relates this novel with the other novels showing the unity of the tribe and growing the interest in other characters.  I want a book about Grandfather, Redhorse and a few other characters.  The only thing that I missed in this book were the Kiowa traditional elements.  It felt like those elements set the series apart from other novels, it was something unique to RA's writing.  Granted I still love her writing and her books, I crave more.  RA Winter has a writing style all her own and draws her readers into her story.  Her characters are easy to relate to and feel for, everyone can relate to loving someone and overcoming hardships to achieve your relationship dreams.  RedDress Two Wives has so many things that will entertain readers and keep them wanting more.

RA has become an author that I admire and respect.  I look forward to reading each of her books and hope she continues to write more.  I give this novel a 4 out of 5 because I really missed the Kiowa elements that make the series special.

For more of my review please read my review on Online Book Club.