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Ellen Meister’s ‘Take My Husband’
Laurel Applebaum is a devoted daughter, wife, mother, and soon to be grandmother who works hard keeping her family thriving and comfortable with very little help from her husband, Doug.Doug, who can’t even find the impetus to fill his own pill container and stay on top of his medications and doctor’s appointments.Doug, who has taken…
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Carmel Rhodes’s ‘Cherry Bomb’
From page one there was so much about Cherry’s story that drew me in; the working in the service industry to get by, a slight tendency toward self-destruction, and a taste for forbidden older men that generate steam just by walking into the room.Cherry and Cash are addicted to each other from the moment they…
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Amanda Pellegrino’s ‘Smile and Look Pretty’
This review was commissioned by Harper Collins. We meet the four friends who make up the lead of the story- Cate, Olivia, Lauren, and Max- when they are ankle deep in professional and personal crises galore, every single one of them underpinned by the stress their bosses are infusing into their lives and by their…
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Adele Parks’ ‘Woman Last Seen’
This review was commissioned by Harper Collins. Leigh Fletcher has a wonderful life; a devoted husband, two amazing sons, and a beautiful home filled with clutter and laughter and enough energy to have spontaneous dance parties at the end of a long day- but even the happiest, most fulfilled women have their secrets. When Leigh…
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Karen Hamilton’s ‘The Ex-Husband’
This review was commissioned by Harper Collins. From the moment Charlotte begins talking, we know she is not a narrator we should wholly trust; she is very honest about this. As we navigate through the story with her, despite how much we should remember this, it is impossible not to root for her as she…
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Brenda Janowitz’s ‘The Liz Taylor Ring’
This review was commissioned by Harper Collins. We meet the Schneider siblings- Addy, Nathan, and Courtney- at a season in their lives where they are navigating the problems of middle-aged people; the detritus of two parents who have passed away, teenaged children and their antics, rocky marriages, and established (and crippling) behavior patterns and addictions.…
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Kim Fielding’s ‘Teddy Spenser Isn’t Looking For Love’
This review was commissioned by Harper Collins. Teddy Spenser is so me- let me start there. Very Type A, I can do it better just get out of my way Virgo energy. Watching him go down fighting as he fell in love was also very me- in the very city that it also happened to…
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Fertility Myths and Why They Super-Suck, Series Finale Part 4; ‘You’re Just Not ______’
I was going to expand this series- I was thinking of all the things I could touch on going forward that might be helpful or make others struggling with infertility feel less alone or feel seen. Then I realized what a bold concept that is- and that I badly needed to get over myself; what…
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Sarah McCraw Crow’s ‘The Wrong Kind of Woman’
This review was commissioned by Harper Collins. The Wrong Kind of Woman has the dark, sleepy feel of many movies from the 70s, which is fitting since it is set in that era as well; it starts with a tragedy, it delves into the existential tragedy and dread of being, mixed with the inevitable observations…