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New York City, 1910—Jane Prescott excels at fading into the wallpaper.  Serving without being seen is practically part of her job description as a lady's maid for the wealthy Benchley family.  That ability comes in handy when Norrie Newsome, a notorious playboy who's engaged to one of Jane's charges, is brutally murdered at a house party.  No one is more strategically placed to look into the killing than Jane, a woman who is always around but never really noticed.

Callous, spoiled and often cruel, Norrie's public admirers abhorred him in private.  Any number of people, then, could have decided to kill the obdurate young man.  Who did end his life?  Was it his spurned lover?  The humiliated victim of one of Norrie's pranks?  Or a stranger outraged by a devastating tragedy at a mine owned by the Newsomes?  With so many suspects, finding the real murderer won't be easy.  With the help of Michael Behan, a handsome tabloid reporter, no-nonsense Jane will solve the case.  Even if she has to risk everything—her job, her reputation, even her own safety—to do it.

I always enjoy an intriguing murder mystery, especially when it's set against a colorful historical backdrop, and narrated by a tenacious sleuth.  A Death of No Importance, a debut adult novel by YA author Mariah Fredericks, is no exception.  While most of the story's characters are unlikable, Jane and Michael are both complex and engaging, adjectives that also describe the mystery they're attempting to solve.  All of these elements combine to produce an entertaining novel that I quite enjoyed.  I'm excited for the next installment (Death of a New American, April 2019) in this alluring new series.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly and of Jennifer Ashley's Below Stairs Mysteries [Death Below Stairs; and Scandal Above Stairs])

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

(possibly R)

for language (no F-bombs), blood/gore, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of A Death of No Importance from the generous folks at St. Martin's Press.  Thank you!

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As a healthy woman who had experienced a normal pregnancy only a year and a half ago, Carol J. Decker had no reason to expect that anything would be different with her second.  Despite having some flu-like symptoms, she entered the hospital on June 10, 2008, expecting nothing out of the ordinary.  Instead, she was rushed to the ER, where an emergency C-section was performed.  Even then, Carol could not have imagined how profoundly and irrevocably her life was about to change.

The 33-year-old mother had contracted an infection which turned into sepsis.  As toxins invaded every part of her body, Carol fought desperately for survival.  Although she ultimately won the war, she endured months of excruciating pain, humiliating helplessness, and overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and despair.  Left with permanent blindness, painful skin grafts, and three amputated limbs, Carol couldn't imagine how she could possibly go on.  How could she fulfill her roles as wife, mother, and productive citizen without sight?  Without legs?  Without an arm?  Wouldn't it have been better if she had just died on the operating table? 

In Unshattered, Carol J. Decker describes not just the agony of fighting sepsis but also the victory of choosing to live a life of beauty and joy, even in the face of unspeakable tragedy.  As a narrator, she eschews sentimentality and banal platitudes, employing a raw candor that smacks of honesty and hard-won wisdom.  While Decker doesn't pull any punches, she does focus on the greatest lesson she learned from her experience:

(Readalikes:  Um, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for descriptions of medical procedures that might be too graphic/scary for young readers

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of Unshattered from the generous folks at Shadow Mountain.  Thank you! 

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After being humiliated as an 18-year-old, Larkin Lanier fled her Lowcountry home for New York City, vowing never to look back.  Although the women who raised her have kept in touch, their pleas for her return have fallen on deaf ears.  When Larkin receives news that her mother—a free-spirited painter—has gone missing, however, she knows it's time to go back to Georgetown, South Carolina.  At 27, Larkin is a slim, successful businesswoman, not the awkward, overlooked girl she once was, but she's still leery about returning.  She'll stay in the South only long enough to do what needs to be done, then return as soon as possible to her lonely life in the Big Apple.

When Ivy Lanier is found in the ruins of her family's burned-out plantation home, injured and unconscious, Larkin fears the worst for her mother.  As she lingers in the hospital, unresponsive, Larkin can't help but wonder what the older woman was doing at Carrowmore.  Ivy seemed to have been looking for something, but what could she possibly need from the crumbling shell of her former home?  When Larkin questions Ceecee—the 77-year-old woman who raised both Ivy and Larkin—the old lady acts cagey and suspicious.  What is Ceecee keeping from her?  Ivy was trying to tell Larkin something before her accident, something about the past.  Only Ceecee and Bitty, her grandmother's childhood friends, know the truth and it just might be the truth that finally sets Ivy free.  Desperate to wake her mother up, Larkin will stop at nothing until she uncovers the truth about a trio of friends and the secrets that have bound them together for the last fifty years.

I'm always up for a Southern family secrets novel and no one defines the genre quite like Karen White.  Although I like some of her books more than others, I appreciate her atmospheric, warm-hearted stories, and always look forward to a new one.  Dreams of Falling takes place in a typical Lowcountry setting populated by quirky folk who value family, friendship, and foiling nosy attempts to sniff out the skeletons in their closets.  The tale oscillates between narrators and time periods, which makes both the plot and the cast a bit confusing at times.  While I loved Ceecee, Bitty, and some of the other fringe characters, the three women at the novel's core didn't appeal to me at all.  The Darlingtons (Margaret, Ivy, and Larkin) are a selfish, fickle, unlikable lot, which made it tough for me to care what happened to them.  Despite my reservations, though, I found Dreams of Falling compelling and, overall, enjoyable.  It's not my favorite of White's many novels, but it definitely kept me reading.

(Readalikes:  other novels by Karen White as well as those by Dorothea Benton Frank, Joshilyn Jackson, and Anne Rivers Siddons)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for violence, innuendo, and (non-graphic) references to sex and prostitution

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Dreams of Falling from the generous folks at Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

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Ellen's using scraps of heirloom fabric to create a wedding quilt for her granddaughter June when the bride-to-be shows up on her porch declaring the upcoming nuptials have been called off.  With her fiancé shipping off soon for Korea, June's nervous and uncertain about their future.  In an effort to soothe the young woman's worries, Ellen tells her a story about a lady who ran away from marriage three times ...

At the end of the 19th Century, a 22-year-old schoolteacher named Nell strikes out for the New Mexico Territory.  She craves adventure and she longs for love.  Nell finds both at the Rockin' A, a rustic cattle ranch where she becomes a biscuit shooter.  When she falls for a charming cowboy, Nell's over the moon with happiness.  Then Buddy breaks her heart.  Devastated, Nell runs away, vowing never to be so foolish again.  As her traitorous heart starts beating for another, she can't shake off her lingering anxiety.  Can she trust any man's declarations of love?  How will she know if a suitor's sincere and loyal enough to marry?  More importantly, will she ever find true love, the kind that leads to the happy contentment for which she longs?  Nell will have to learn some difficult lessons about life and love before she even comes close to her happily ever after.

Can Nell's hard-won wisdom help June make the most important decision of her life?

With a vivid Old West setting and a story line that's entertaining if not all that engrossing, The Patchwork Bride is the newest historical romance from genre staple Sandra Dallas.  Although the novel's short on plot, it does have a certain charm.  I didn't feel any real connection with its heroine, however, since Nell strikes me as selfish, easy, and fickle.  While the story moves along in a predictable manner, the "surprise" ending feels cheap and sneaky.  In fact, the finale soured the whole tale for me.  The Patchwork Bride just didn't feel like a satisfying read after that!  I wanted to love this one, but in the end, my only feeling is ... meh.  

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't really think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs) and violence

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of The Patchwork Bride from the generous folks at St. Martin's Press.  Thank you!