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A Paris Apartment
by Michelle Gable

Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

Paris in the late 1800's? during the Belle Epoque?, antique furniture and paintings, and journals from an apartment's original inhabitant. All of these things made A PARIS APARTMENT a book that will keep you glued to the pages.

Who wouldn't want to go to Paris? April was an …more

I'll See You in Paris
by Michelle Gable

Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

What was the intrigue and what was the secret about the book Annie always wanted to read but never did?

Why was her mother so evasive about that book?, The Missing Duchess,? and who was the Duchess of Marlborough?

Why did she and her mother really go to London?

Would the book …more

The Book of Summer
by Michelle Gable

Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

A summer home filled with years of memories, a book filled with years of written memories, and a home that is eroding away and about to fall off the cliff.

The Cliff House, appropriately named, has been the summer home on Nantucket for the Young/Packard/Codman family for …more

Watching You: A Novel
by Lisa Jewell

Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

Just who is Tom Fitzwilliam? Does anyone really know?

To the outside world he is a handsome, popular, successful man, but is he really all that?

Strange things always happen in the neighborhoods where Tom lives, and Melville Heights is no exception.

There is spying in the …more

Bellman & Black
by Diane Setterfield

Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

"Ivy and Mary was here."

Those words are the beginning, the ending, and the basis of NECESSARY LIES. Those five words go full circle in this incredible, haunting book.

You will be transported to another world as you read NECESSARY LIES. A world of poverty and illiteracy as …more

Necessary Lies
by Diane Chamberlain

Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

Looking for Me
by Beth Hoffman

Beautiful - Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

We all have dreams...some are fulfilled, some are not. Teddi Overman knew she had a talent for refinishing antique furniture even though her mother told her there was no future in it. Her mother wanted her to be a secretary.

Teddi didn't want to be a secretary. Teddi pursued …more her dream but had reservations about leaving her family when she did. She was so far away from them, and since she had left secretly in the middle of the night and on a bad note, there was some regret on her part. Her decision was a good one in the long run, though.

LOOKING FOR ME is another spectacular read by Beth Hoffman. The book faces family issues, friendships, dreams, unearthed talents, tragedies, regret, and heartbreak, but also has wonderful lessons. You will need a kleenex as you follow Teddie Overman from her childhood to adulthood. You will share in her triumphs and also her let downs.

You will follow the Overman family as the book goes back and forth in time. Mama was an odd character who was always pessimistic. Teddi was loveable, hopeful, ambitious, optimistic, and a joy. Josh was a sad character. Daddy was a wonderful character. Grammy was the perfect grandmother. Stella and Olivia were perfect friends for Teddi.

The book is about memories....so important, yet so painful. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the setting, the storyline, and the lessons learned. The book was uplifting and sweet but will also bring tears to your eyes....good tears.

LOOKING FOR ME is about the relationship between family members and how tragedies can tear them apart and also about talents that we shouldn't waste. If you are an antique buff, you will be thrilled.

LOOKING FOR ME perfectly describes how we all are looking for something in our lives that usually takes root in our childhood. The quote from page 206 made an impression on me and seems to sum up what Ms. Hoffman was trying to convey:

"We will be known forever by the tracks we leave."

This quote stayed with me long after I turned the last page of the book.

The book is written in Ms. Hoffman's customary beautiful, effortless storytelling style. It conveys the fragility and beauty of family and the determination to never give up.

This is a must read so you can soak up the depth of, the warmth of, and the beauty of Ms. Hoffman's writing, and share in the benefit of her words of wisdom about being happy.

I absolutely loved this book. 5/5

This book was given to me by the author free of charge and without compensation in return for an honest review. (less)

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel
by Beth Hoffman

An All-Time Favorite - Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

Flying dishes, prom gowns, red high-heeled shoes, embarrassing school days....what more could a child take.
Cee Cee Honeycutt lived with her parents who consisted of a mother who thought she missed out on life since she left her home town in Georgia to marry an older man …more

Room: A Novel
by Emma Donoghue

Creative Thriller - Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

What hold could Old Nick have over Ma that would make that room her world? Why didn't she just leave? Or maybe she wasn't able to leave?

Jack's fifth birthday definitely wouldn't be what a normal five-year-old would be delighted with, but Jack was happy to spend the day with …more

My Lovely Wife
by Samantha Downing

Unbelievable - Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews (3/29/2019)

A Lovely Wife is definitely a misnomer. A demented psycho is more like it.

Everything Millicent does seems innocent on the outside, but it is truly evil. She plans things that will benefit her and only her with her family being at the brunt of the control issues she has. …more

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
by Phaedra Patrick

LOVED IT - CHARMING (3/26/2019)

How could a charm bracelet stir up so many emotions and curiosity?

After Arthur's wife passed away and he was cleaning out her things, his discovery of a hidden charm bracelet had him curious about what each charm meant. He also wanted to know why he never saw Miriam wearing …more

Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone
by Phaedra Patrick

Uplifting (3/26/2019)

A knock on the door in the middle of the night could only mean one thing, right? Bad news.

If it were Estelle, though, it would be good news so Benedict decided to answer the knock.

Much to his surprise, it wasn't Estelle, but Gemma who announced that she was his niece from …more

The Last Year of the War
by Susan Meissner

The Last Year of The War - LOVED this book (3/20/2019)

A friendship made in an internment camp during WWII that lasted only eighteen months, but bonds and memories that lasted a lifetime.

Elise and Mariko met during WWII while attending school in an internment camp for Japanese and German Americans.

We follow both girls through …more

Along the Infinite Sea
by Beatriz Williams

Along The Infinite Sea (3/20/2019)

Pepper is back and as usual something is brewing. The brew is that she is pregnant and has no place to go.

Pepper did have some money, though, because she found an old Mercedes at her sister's home, got it in perfect working order, and sold it. Little did Pepper know that …more

A Certain Age: A Novel
by Beatriz Williams

A Certain Age (3/20/2019)

Falling in love with a younger man while you are still married and then having a younger woman come along wasn't the best thing to happen to Mrs. Theresa Marshall.

A CERTAIN AGE began with an excerpt from a murder trial then moved to alternating chapters and told of the life …more

The Summer Wives
by Beatriz Williams

The Summer Wives (3/20/2019)

Miranda has come back after eighteen years to the island where she has spent every summer since her mother married into the prestigious Fisher family. She hasn’t told anyone the reason why she has returned to Winthrop’s Island with bruises that no one mentions, but since …more

The Forgotten Garden: A Novel
by Kate Morton

An All-Time Favorite - The Forgotten Garden (3/13/2019)

I would give this book a 10 if I could. Loved it...absolutely amazing....the writing is a masterpiece.

All the mysteries and secrets of the Mountrachet family are revealed....the ending is superb.

The story goes back and forth in time telling the story of how little Nell was …more

The Secret Keeper
by Kate Morton

Another FAB book by Kate Morton - The Secret Keeper (3/13/2019)

To be sixteen, to witness a murder, and to keep it a secret your entire life? When would Laurel find out the "real" reason for the murder. After fifty years, she needed to ask, but could she really find the answer? She had to. Time was running out.

Set in England and moving …more from the 1930's to 2011, you will follow Laurel as she continues to keep this secret and attempts to find out why her mother stabbed a visitor on her brother's birthday. Did the baby see or remember anything? Could that be possible? What if he did remember? Laurel, her father, and her mother were the only ones that were supposed to know, but were they?

The storyline is intriguing and the descriptions are amazing as you go back and forth in time to see what Laurel's mother's life was like as a child and also as a young adult and what life was like for Laurel, her sisters, and her brother as they grew up on a quaint farm in a loving family. Dorothy, Laurel's mother, lead a very significant life and had interesting people in her life that shaped her and her decisions.

The book seamlessly moves between time periods giving creative details of each era in the characters' lives and has you wanting to know more. An amazing storyline that keeps you guessing about the real reason for the murder and one that makes you want to be a part of the story in order to be part of the life the characters lead in each decade of their lives.

Finding out about her mother's motives and life before she was married was a goal Laurel was determined to solve before her mother died, and her mother is the only one who could give the answers to many questions, but could their dying mother tell all? Once clues about Dorothy's past begin to surface, you will be as anxious as Laurel was to find out other secrets her mother kept to herself all her life and secrets that caused her mother to commit murder.

This book was marvelous and captivating as all of Kate Morton's books, and the ending is absolutely SUPERB.

I thoroughly enjoyed the walk through Laurel's life and the flashbacks to her mother's life. Don't miss this book or any book Kate Morton has written...you will be taken away with her exceptional writing and fantastic storytelling skills as she weaves lives and situations together into incredible books. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge by the publisher in return for an honest review. (less)

The Lake House
by Kate Morton

LOVED The Lake House (3/13/2019)

Alice the author and sister of Theo and Sadie the detective.

Would these two women be able to find information about the disappearance 70 years ago of 11-month old Theo - if they worked together on this cold case even though the police had not been able to find one clue or …more

The Clockmaker's Daughter: A Novel
by Kate Morton

The Clockmaker's Daughter (3/13/2019)

An old house, an old sketch book, an old murder, an old photograph, and a lot of mysteries. Who doesn’t love all of those?

THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER has it all.

THE CLOCKMAKER’S DAUGHTER goes back and forth in time looking for clues to connect Elodie’s present-day questions …more

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