The Paris Package (Stella Bled #1) by A.W. Hartoin

 

For Stella Bled Lawrence being wealthy and stylish in 1938 is exactly what it’s cracked up to be. She’s blissfully unaware of the rising tensions in Europe even as she travels to Vienna on the eve of the Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass. Stella and her husband, Nicky, witness the night’s atrocities first hand. Even as they watch the horror, they never imagine it will touch them personally, a pair of wealthy Americans on their honeymoon but touch them it does. In the chaotic aftermath, Stella finds passion and purpose in the form of a package with a Paris address. She promises to deliver it, not knowing what it contains or who wants it. Soon Stella must decide who and what she’s willing to sacrifice to keep a secret that has been quietly guarded for five hundred years.

I had this audiobook on hold for many weeks so the anticipation was high for this book.  But as I was listening to it while I was recovering from gallbladder surgery, I had a hard time really getting into it. Usually I can listen to audiobooks in a matter of a few days, but this one took almost 2 weeks to listen to. I felt like the story was bland & not a lot of pertinent detail.

 

While We Were Dating (The Wedding Date #6) by Jasmine Guillory

Two people realize that it's no longer an act when they veer off-script in this sizzling romantic comedy by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory.

Ben Stephens has never bothered with serious relationships. He has plenty of casual dates to keep him busy, family drama he's trying to ignore and his advertising job to focus on. When Ben lands a huge ad campaign featuring movie star Anna Gardiner, however, it's hard to keep it purely professional. Anna is not just gorgeous and sexy, she's also down to earth and considerate, and he can't help flirting a little...

Anna Gardiner is on a mission: to make herself a household name, and this ad campaign will be a great distraction while she waits to hear if she's booked her next movie. However, she didn't expect Ben Stephens to be her biggest distraction. She knows mixing business with pleasure never works out, but why not indulge in a harmless flirtation?

But their lighthearted banter takes a turn for the serious when Ben helps Anna in a family emergency, and they reveal truths about themselves to each other, truths they've barely shared with those closest to them.

When the opportunity comes to turn their real-life fling into something more for the Hollywood spotlight, will Ben be content to play the background role in Anna's life and leave when the cameras stop rolling? Or could he be the leading man she needs to craft their own Hollywood ending?

I had liked the other books in this series, but I felt like this storyline was a bit predictable. Plus,  I felt like this book had a lot more sexual encounters throughout it & it made me feel a bit uncomfortable. If the author continues this series to a book 7 or beyond, I hope that they aren't as sex driven as this one. 

 

The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner #1) by Sarah Pearse

 

Half hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in... 

This book sounded promising, but I felt like it got a bit predicable. The overall storyline seemed good and it had promise.  I know this is the first in the series & I hope that that the 2nd novel will be better & get more in depth. I feel like this book was more to introduce the characters & personalities. 

Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins

Every month, a letter. That's what Lauren decides to leave her husband when she finds out she's dying. Each month, she gives Josh a letter containing a task to help him face this first year without her, leading him on a heartrending, beautiful, often humorous journey to find happiness again in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins.

Joshua and Lauren are the perfect couple. Newly married, they're wildly in love, each on a successful and rewarding career path. Then Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness.

As Lauren's disease progresses, Joshua struggles to make the most of the time he has left with his wife and to come to terms with his future--a future without the only woman he's ever loved. He's so consumed with finding a way to avoid the inevitable ending that he never imagines his life after Lauren.

But Lauren has a plan to keep her husband moving forward. A plan hidden in the letters she leaves him. In those letters, one for every month in the year after her death, Lauren leads Joshua on a journey through pain, anger, and denial. It's a journey that will take Joshua from his attempt at a dinner party for family and friends to getting rid of their bed...from a visit with a psychic medium to a kiss with a woman who isn't Lauren. As his grief makes room for laughter and new relationships, Joshua learns Lauren's most valuable lesson: The path to happiness doesn't follow a straight line.

Sometimes heartbreaking, often funny, and always uplifting, this novel from New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins illuminates how life's greatest joys are often hiding in plain sight.

 

The reviews I read for this book on goodreads.com had mixed feelings. Some of them related it to the movie of P.S, I Love You. I thought it sounded interesting & decided to listen to it. I liked how there were two different readers so I could get more into the story & feel the feelings the author was trying to convey.  It is stories like this one that make me think of what would happen if I were to pass before my husband & if he could cope & deal with our life & kids.  This couple didn't have any kids, but we do, which would make things harder in a way.  I know if I lost my husband that I would feel lost.  He completes me in a way that no one else has. So if you like a story of love and lost and starting over, then this would be a good read for you. 

Three Sisters (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #3) by Heather Morris

A promise to stay together.

An unbreakable bond.
A fierce will to survive.

From international bestselling author Heather Morris comes the breathtaking conclusion to The Tattooist of Auschwitz trilogy.

When they are girls, Cibi, Magda and Livia make a promise to their father - that they will stay together, no matter what.

Years later, at just 15 years old, Livia is ordered to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Cibi, only 19 herself, remembers their promise and follows Livia, determined to protect her sister, or die with her.

In their hometown in Slovakia, 17-year-old Magda hides, desperate to evade the barbaric Nazi forces. But it is not long before she is captured and condemned to Auschwitz.

In the horror of the death camp, these three beautiful sisters are reunited. Though traumatised by their experiences, they are together.

They make another promise: that they will live. Their fight for survival takes them from the hell of Auschwitz, to a death march across war-torn Europe and eventually home to Slovakia, now under iron Communist rule. Determined to begin again, they embark on a voyage of renewal, to the new Jewish homeland, Israel.

Rich in vivid detail, and beautifully told, Three Sisters will break your heart, but leave you amazed and uplifted by the courage and fierce love of three sisters, whose promise to each other kept them alive. Two of the sisters are in Israel today, surrounded by family and friends. They have chosen Heather Morris to reimagine their story in her astonishing new novel, Three Sisters.

I read the first in the series, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, back in the summer of 2020. It was really well written & I loved reading the story.  When I found out about this one I knew I had to read it.  I had put it on hold via audiobook but the wait was really long. I found a physical copy at my library & thought I would start reading it while I was waiting for the audiobook.  I finished the entire book before the audiobook became available.    

I loved reading about these 3 sisters & their experiences.  I tried to picture what they saw & felt as they endured the concentration camps, but I don't think anyone can really picture the horrors of what it was really like unless you were actually there.  I enjoyed how it was more than just their time in the camps & how it also showed their life was like & became afterward. How their families changed, grew & was affected by their time in the camps.  This is a book I would highly recommend to anyone. 

It's Better This Way by Debbie Macomber

After divorce shatters her family, one woman's struggle to pick up the pieces finally leads to a new beginning--but is the past truly behind her? #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber explores the powerful intersections of love and family in this poignant novel.

It's been nearly six years since Julia Jones had her heart broken. After her husband became involved with another woman, she did everything she could to save their marriage, to no avail. Their two daughters continue to stand by Julia in the wake of their father's behavior--and they've had a tough time getting along with the other woman who became their stepmother. Distraught after selling the family home, Julia moved into a condominium complex that offers the warmth and charm of a fresh start. Now, having settled into her new community and sold her successful interior design business, she's embraced a fulfilling new life, one that doesn't seem to need a man in it. Her beloved father's trusty saying is ringing truer than ever: It's better this way.

But when Julia meets a handsome new resident in the building's exercise room, she can't help but be drawn to him. Heath Johnson is a welcome change from the men she's encountered on the occasional--mostly disastrous--dates her sister has eagerly planned for her over the years. As she and Heath, a divorcé himself, begin to grow close, their friendship blossoms into a love neither of them had expected. However, they soon realize that combining families, even with four adult children, presents inevitable challenges.

When a dramatic revelation threatens the happiness they've found, Julia and Heath must reconcile their love for their children with their love for each other. If they can't, their bright future together may be nothing but a dream.

I have read other books by this author & have enjoyed them. They are good, clean romances that also seem to relate to real life people & situations. The way she tells the story comes across neatly & easy to visualize the story.  I like the plot line and the dramatic revelation & how divorce can be messy on the couple as well as if the children are involved, whether they are adults or not. 

 

So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow

Four young Black sisters come of age during the American Civil War in So Many Beginnings, a warm and powerful YA remix of the classic novel Little Women by national bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow.

North Carolina, 1863. As the American Civil War rages on, the Freedmen's Colony of Roanoke Island is blossoming, a haven for the recently emancipated. Black people have begun building a community of their own, a refuge from the shadow of the old life. It is where the March family has finally been able to safely put down roots with four young daughters:

Meg, a teacher who longs to find love and start a family of her own.

Jo, a writer whose words are too powerful to be contained.

Beth, a talented seamstress searching for a higher purpose.

Amy, a dancer eager to explore life outside her family's home.

As the four March sisters come into their own as independent young women, they will face first love, health struggles, heartbreak, and new horizons. But they will face it all together.

This was a fun retelling of the story of little women and during the time of the Civil War when they are freed black people, They live together in a community & continue to grow & learn.  Their storylines take a different direction than the original March sisters, but this is a unique way of it being re-told.    A solid 3 stars.