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Pineapple Street
Pineapple Street
Jenny Jackson | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I love a character driven novel, and Pineapple Street is packed full of interesting people.
The Stockton family are amongst the 1 Percenters - they’re unimaginably wealthy and live in a New York inhabited by few, very wealthy people. Pineapple Street looks at some of the issues that these very wealthy people face.

Tilda and Chip have 3 children: Darley, the eldest, decides to sign her money over to her children rather than have her husband, Malcolm, sign a prenup. This doesn’t seem to be an important decision with them both having good jobs. Things get a little tighter financially when Darley gives up her job at Goldman Sachs to be with her two young children, and even more so when Malcolm loses his job.

Cord, the middle child, finds it hard to cut the family ties even when he marries Sasha. She does sign the prenup, and has to live in Cords family house (his parents do however, move out) with all of his parents furniture still in it - and his younger sisters bedroom still intact.

Georgiana, the youngest, has a difficult relationship with the family money, and struggles when she enters into an affair with a completely unsuitable man.

All of the younger Stocktons start to look at their lives with a critical eye, and changer are afoot.

I loved this fun read about family, money, class, and with the story told from the points of view of the women - a woman’s place in this affluent world.
  
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Merissa (12911 KP) rated Songbird (The Tudor Court #1) in Books

Apr 13, 2021 (Updated Jul 27, 2023)  
Songbird (The Tudor Court #1)
Songbird (The Tudor Court #1)
Karen Heenan | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
SONGBIRD is the first book in the Tudor Court series, and we are introduced to the world of King Henry VIII, and his love of music. Bess is sold to the King just before her tenth birthday and, with hard study and lots of practice, becomes a favourite of his. We stay with her as she grows from a young child, to a young woman, with friends and lovers along the way.

Reading about Henry, Katherine, Mary, and the Boleyn sisters, from a servant's perspective made it all the more fascinating. Her life at court is comfortable, but she is still a servant. There is romance for Bess, from Tom, who was with her from the start, to Nick, a courtier currently in favour with the King. Bess has her own choices to make, some of which end up being heartbreaking.

If I had one thing to say, it would be I was disappointed we skipped so much of Henry's reign, but then, if we'd had it all, it would have been enough for more books! A fascinating story, with realism and character development a-plenty. This was a book I thoroughly enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending, and I am so happy to see there is a second book in this series!

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 13, 2021
  
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Merissa (12911 KP) rated Bishop to Knight One (Diviner's Game #1) in Books

Feb 12, 2021 (Updated Aug 3, 2023)  
Bishop to Knight One (Diviner's Game #1)
Bishop to Knight One (Diviner's Game #1)
Jennifer Cody | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
BISHOP TO KNIGHT ONE is the first book in the Diviner's Game trilogy. We enter the world of myth and magic, with Naiads, Nymphs, Obsidites, Telepaths, you name it.

Deejay takes in the unwanted sons of his sisters but ends up taking in step-sons too. One of these is Matt, supposedly human. Both Deejay and Matt fight their attraction as inappropriate in both the human and non-human worlds. Things come to light that show a ten-year difference will mean absolutely nothing as the years go by.

I loved their slow-burn, hot as hell, romance. This book is simply outstanding and had me gripped from the very beginning. I have my own list of characters that I like and dislike but will admit to being shocked with a twist at the end of this book. I really hope it is explained further in subsequent books as I really don't want to dislike this character, but his actions make me question!!!

I found the pacing to be perfect for the story, with plenty of action and romance to take me from page to page. There is intrigue, betrayal (maybe), curses, and fights. It's all here and I loved every single word.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to continue the series. Bring it on!

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 12, 2021
  
The Good Daughter
The Good Daughter
Karin Slaughter | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.2 (25 Ratings)
Book Rating
Charlie and Sam grew up in Pikeville, Georgia, with anything but an idyllic childhood. When the girls were teens, they were part of a brutal assault at their family's farmhouse. The attack left their mother, "Gamma," dead and profoundly affected their father, a prominent local attorney. Years later, Charlie remains in Pikeville, a lawyer like her father, and trying to keep the past behind her. All that changes when the town witnesses violence yet again--and Charlie is right in the thick of it. Suddenly, she's forced to confront so many of the emotions she's buried for years and to fully deal with exactly what happened to her family so many years ago.

Slaughter's latest novel starts quickly out of the gate--with a brutal, graphic, and spell-binding description of the assault and attack on Charlie, Sam, and Gamma--and it never lets up from there. <i>Seriously, this book never lets you take a breath or a break: it's just constant action and second guessing. </i>

Told from the points of view of both Charlie and Sam, including their varying memories of the incident at the farmhouse, we are forced to see all the events and violence through the eyes of the two sisters alone. As I mentioned, this keeps you guessing--and reading. I completely put down the other novel I was reading at the time (FINAL GIRLS) to read this: I had to know how it ended.

All the characters in this book are entwined, and Slaughter does a great job of depicting the small town of Pikeville. It's a mystery at its core, sure, but it also goes deeper with commentary on race, class, and how modern society deals with mass tragedy. The characters are well-drawn: I immediately found myself intrigued by Sam, Charlie, their father (Rusty), the descriptions of Gamma, and by a slew of small-town folk, including Rusty's secretary Lenore, and Charlie's estranged husband, Ben. Slaughter is excellent with the details.

Indeed, <i>she's great at doling out those "whoa" moments.</I> The plot never lets down; in fact, it continues to pick up as the novel continues on. I truly gasped a couple of times and found myself going "wow"! That's not easy to do once, let alone consistently.

This is a beautiful book at times--the way the plot and characters weave together. It even makes you laugh at moments, despite some truly somber subject matter. I found myself a bit irked at times by Charlie and Sam's fighting (I've read a lot of books with sisters fighting as of late), but if that's my only nitpick, that's not bad at all.

Overall, a great mystery that keeps you guessing and surprised to the very end. Excellent, fascinating, and deep characters. Definitely worth a read.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 08/22/2017.

You can read my review of Slaughter's novel PRETTY GIRLS <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1374683896?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1">here</a>;.

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