Blocked by Jami Davenport

 In this latest Seattle Sockeye’s entry, Ms. Davenport continues her sub series, Scoring. The brothers are a group of guys who were friends in the AHL and are now called up to the NHL. The most recent to come up is Axel, the handsome man about town, whose reputation is as a major player. Unknowingly having a one night fling with the wife of his new teams back up goalie, Jock, does not endear him to the Sockeye’s team. To add to this Sh*t sundae, Axel gets one look at Jock’s sister, Geneva, and falls hard. 

I loved how Miss Davenport started all this. Could somebody be in any more of a disastrous situation and find a way to stay on the team and get the girl ? What follows is a man seeing his lifelong dream of being in the NHL possibly going up in smoke and thinking he met the one girl for him who is also unattainable. Watching Axel humble himself and work his butt off to become accepted by the team but yet put on the charm to get Geneva was really entertaining.

 Although Axel and Geneva’s romance is the highlight of the book and very very hot, Jock’s story is interwoven throughout. It’s hard not to feel bad for a guy whose wife is such a loser and whose marriage blows up in such a spectacular way in front of his teammates.


There is plenty of romance in this book as well as a mysterious relationship for Kaden, general stupidity for some of the guys and an interesting vignette with Steele and a group of undercover female cops.

As always, there are enough teasers to make you want the next book to come out as soon as possible so you can see what happens!

California Girls by Susan Mallery-5 Hearts

California Girls is the story of three sisters who experience major upheavals in their lives and how they handle their new normal.
 Finola is a TV host whose husband tells her that he is leaving her for another woman just as she is going on air to interview a young pop princess. Adding to the agony, said singer lets Finola know that she is the one that Finola’s husband is cheating with and makes snide remarks throughout the interview.

Ali works in a garage and is preparing for her wedding when her future brother-in-law, Daniel, comes to tell her that her fiancée Glen doesn’t want to marry her and is calling off the wedding. Daniel becomes Ali‘s support as she slogs through the process of calling off the arrangements and moving on.

 Zennie is content with her life as a surgical nurse and a single woman. She breaks up with Clark, a man she has been casually dating because there isn’t any spark. When her best friend asks her to be a surrogate for she and her husband, Zennie makes a life altering decision.

In most stories the three sisters would bond together and emerge with a sparkling new future. That is not how this story goes. Finola is too wrapped up in her own mess to offer support to her sisters. Ali makes choices that her sisters and mother have problems accepting and Zennie’s pregnancy really throws a curve into the family dynamics. Topping the dysfunctional pyramid is the sisters mother, Mary Jo, who never seems able to be understanding or empathic but who also surprises us every now and then.

To me, this book tells the story of how the people we love and the life we live is not guaranteed. Relationships are work and you can’t take love for granted. Each of the sisters learns things about themselves that they don’t like acknowledging but also find out what their strengths are and how they can move on either alone or with someone. This was an enjoyable and thoughtful read.

The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee - A wonderful read!

 I absolutely loved this book! When Portia Cuthcart's marriage goes kaput, she takes refuge in the NYC apartment her aunt had left her. Portia had given up a lot for her marriage and her husband paid her back by cheating. Now Portia is reinventing herself and discovering a lost gift she inherited from her grandmother. Portia can whip up a meal that meets the emotional needs of a person who has yet to walk through the door. This "knowing" has caused tragedy in Portia's life so she forced it down and did her best to forget it. Now, Portia is open to the gift although she still has reservations.

Portia meets Gabriel Kane, a gazillionaire who owns the other two apartments in her aunt's building. The minute she meets him, her life changes and she feels the knowing. Gabriel has two daughters who are reeling from their mother's death and being moved to the city. Portia is poor and damaged and Gabriel is rich and damaged. They are perfect for each other!

I enjoyed reading this story and how the characters slowly interact together. Portia and her sisters work through family issues and come together to make a plan for the future. Portia finds herself getting more involved with Gabriel and his family even as she realizes it could hurt her again if things fall apart. Gabriel doesn't do love but he finds himself unable to resist Portia and all she represents. All the while there are secrets that if exposed will rip apart the fragile existence all of the characters are living. Everything is perfectly woven together in this book, good and bad, so that you just can't stop reading for even one minute. Just sit down and start reading and go til you finish, you won't regret it. 

On a side note, I am totally enamored with the glass jars on the cover too!

Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews

Rising media star and lifestyle blogger Grace Stanton’s own life gets torpedoed after she drives her cheating husband’s pricey sports car straight into the family swimming pool in a fit of anger. Soon she’s locked out of her own palatial home, checking account, and blog, forced to move in with her widowed mother who lives above, and owns, The Sandbar, a rundown beach bar. Attending court-mandated weekly “divorce recovery” therapy sessions with a group of three other women—marital misfits whose only common denominator is betrayal—Grace and the women soon ditch their therapist and move their Wednesday “Ladies’ Night” sessions to The Sandbar. They begin to help each other, walking a fine line between revenge and justice, as each one finds closure in ways previously unimagined. Can Grace figure out a new way home and how strong she needs to be to get there? ( synopsis from Mary Kay Andrews.com)

I started this book on audio and had to switch to the book because it was making me crazy that it was going so slow. Not the story, just listening to it.  Once I got the actual book, I really enjoyed the story. My only quibble; for a smart person, the heroine was a bit of a doormat after she caught her hubby Ben "being assisted" by her assistant J’Aime.  My aggravation level dropped once she got divorced and had to start rebuilding her life.

Grace loses everything, her husband, blog, and lifestyle after catching her hubby in the act and then destroying his car in a hissy fit (LOL). While she is licking her wounds, he is neatly taking everything away from her and even sabotaging her efforts to recoup her life. She ends up in a touchy feely anger management group with a bunch of other divorced people who had the misfortune of having their cases heard by the same judge. The best part of the story takes place from this point onward as Grace discovers a way to get her self-esteem and even her career back on track.  I like that she realizes that she doesn't need all of the expensive and fashionable things which defined her life and even her blog before the divorce.  Grace gets back to her essential self and rediscovers the joy in rehabbing a  small vintage house not a mcmansion.

She meets Wyatt in her divorce group and they make a real connection after some false starts. He has also been taken for a ride by his ex, but he has a child involved, which makes it worse.  The members of the group start to figure out that there is something fishy going on with their so-called therapist and the judge that heard their cases.  The ways that the group investigates the situation add some real humor to the book.  There are also parts that show just how toxic divorce can really be if the parties don’t work hard to prevent that from happening even after the court hearing is over.

I have to say that Ms. Andrews is a nicer person than I am because I think that Ben and J’Aime don’t suffer enough in the end. But, that is really the lesson that we learn in a divorce.  I remember reading in a book something about the anger you keep in your heart leaving less room for love to come in. Grace learns that lesson and is the better person for learning it.

PS… Now that I have read the book, I am going to re-listen to it because the narrator really did a good job.  It wasn’t her fault that I was too impatient to wait and enjoy the book.

A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street # 8) Review of Audio book

Synopsis

In the middle of the year, in the middle of her life, Bethanne Hamlin takes a road trip with her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth.
They’re driving to Florida for Ruth’s 50th high-school reunion. A longtime widow, Ruth would like to reconnect with Royce, the love of her teenage life. She’s heard he’s alone, too...and, well, she’s curious. Maybe even hopeful.
Bethanne herself needs time to reflect, to ponder a decision she has to make. Her ex-husband, Grant — her children’s father — wants to reconcile now that his second marriage has failed. Bethanne’s considering it....
Meanwhile, Annie’s out to prove to her onetime boyfriend that she can live a brilliant life without him!
So there they are, three women driving across America. They have their maps and their directions — but even the best-planned journey can take you to a turn in the road. Or lead you to an unexpected encounter — like the day Bethanne meets a man named Max who really is a hero on a Harley. That’s when Bethanne’s decision becomes a lot harder. Because Grant wants her back, but now there’s Max....
From Seattle’s Blossom Street to the other end of the country, this is a trip that could change three women’s lives. ( Synopsis from Barnes & Noble.com )

Read by Joyce Bean, 10 hours on 9 CD's

It is always satisfying to read or listen to a Debbie Macomber book. When you finish, you feel positive about life and people's ability to rise above their difficulties. In this book, the main character, Bethanne, has to decide if she will forgive her cheating ex-husband and take him back.  She has gone on with her life, become a successful business woman, and has a big choice to make. She needs to consider if the 20+ good years are enough to balance out the 6 bad ones. This is a common theme with women whose husbands cheat- would it be better for their family or children, do they still love their spouse, are there financial considerations? Bethanne's daughter Annie, desperately wants her parents to reconcile, again, a common issue even with adult children of divorce. Ruth, the mother-in-law, is in the middle as she loves her son and wants him to be happy but feels the same way about Bethanne.

I think Ms. Macomber did an excellent job of exploring all of the confusion a woman in Bethanne's place would have and also the feelings of Annie and Ruth were authentically portrayed. My only caveat- Annie was over the obnoxious line and I would have liked to see Bethanne put her in her place a little more forcefully ( especially since Annie was going through a similar issue with her boyfriend)!

Max was an interesting character, who was the proverbial fly in the ointment for Annie, Ruth, and Grant (the cheater) and their plans for reuniting the family. Max has had personal trauma in his life and took the opposite track from Bethanne- dropping out and becoming a biker. He was portrayed in a multi-dimensional way that made his character believable. He had tough decisions to make as well. Bethanne's choice is not obvious until the very end of the book which impressed me. She really goes back and forth over her decision.

Joyce Bean does an excellent job of narrating the story.  She made it come alive and all of the characters were fully fleshed verbally. Very enjoyable!

Library note: The Turn in the Road is available at RPL in regular and large print in the new fiction section. The audio CD is in the Books on CD stacks.