Review: The Forgotten Daughter

Do you ever hold off reading a book because you're not sure if you're going to love it as much as you think you will? I had that a little bit with Joanna Goodman's The Forgotten Daughter. I was really looking forward to it's release last fall because I really enjoyed the story she started in The Home for Unwanted Girls. While the sequel didn't quite live up to my expectations, I still enjoyed the read and the history lesson Goodman shared.

Here's the book's description:

Divided by their past, united by love.
1992: French-Canadian factions renew Quebec’s fight to gain independence, and wild, beautiful Véronique Fortin, daughter of a radical separatist convicted of kidnapping and murdering a prominent politician in 1970, has embraced her father’s cause. So it is a surprise when she falls for James Phénix, a journalist of French-Canadian heritage who opposes Quebec separatism. Their love affair is as passionate as it is turbulent, as they negotiate a constant struggle between love and morals.
At the same time, James’s older sister, Elodie Phénix, one of the Duplessis Orphans, becomes involved with a coalition demanding justice and reparations for their suffering in the 1950s when Quebec’s orphanages were converted to mental hospitals, a heinous political act of Premier Maurice Duplessis which affected 5,000 children.
Véronique is the only person Elodie can rely on as she fights for retribution, reliving her trauma, while Elodie becomes a sisterly presence for Véronique, who continues to struggle with her family’s legacy.

I absolutely loved that this story reminded me of Quebec's recent history. I was too young in the '90s to fully understand what was happening with the referendum in 1995. I know I would have learned about it when I got a bit older but the why of it wouldn't have been explored like it was in this book. The novel also gave some closure to the Duplessis Orphans, who we learned about in the first book. There was a lot of important events for the characters that were overlapping which was interesting from a historical perspective.

That overlapping didn't quite work from a story standpoint for me. It felt like two separate stories were trying to be mushed together in one plot because it seemed convenient. James and Véronique were bringing those two stories together but them being together romantically never made sense for me and it all seemed forced. I enjoyed each character and their story separately but once they came together in various ways, that's when I started to lose the threads a bit.

I've read a few historical fiction novels lately that have a journalist for a main character. My partner is a reporter for the local newspaper and to see that (very important) profession explored in a historical context is always interesting to me. I especially liked that James was a French Canadian who was working for an English Canadian newspaper and the extra level of tension that it added to the story was well done.

Even though I had a review copy from the publisher, I ended up listening to most of this one on audiobook from my library. I think that was a really great idea as the narrator, Esther Thibault, uses a Quebecois accent when speaking dialogue and I felt it added a lot to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I think I would still recommend Joanna Goodman's novel The Forgotten Daughter but note that readers should pick up The Home for Unwanted Girls first and/or have a very heavy interest in Canadian politics. The stories Goodman told were good ones but the execution of those stories were a miss for me.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Heir Affair

It's been over five years since I read Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan's novel The Royal We. I've read hundreds of books since so it's no surprise that I had forgotten many of the plot points from the first book. I did, however, remember absolutely adoring it and know it was one of my favourite books from 2015. The Heir Affair is the long-awaited sequel and one of my most anticipated reads of 2020. I'm not sure it lived up to the hype I had given it but I still really enjoyed the time I spent reading it.

Here's the synopsis:

Making it up the aisle was the easy part: After marrying the heir to the throne, Rebecca “Bex” Porter must survive her own scandals as she adjusts to life in the glamorous British royal family, in this “highly anticipated” follow-up to The Royal We, the “fun and dishy” bestseller and NYT Summer Reading List pick inspired by Will and Kate’s romance (People).

After a scandalous secret turns their fairy-tale wedding into a nightmare, Rebecca “Bex” Porter and her husband Prince Nicholas are in self-imposed exile. The public is angry. The Queen is even angrier. And the press is salivating. Cutting themselves off from friends and family, and escaping the world’s judgmental eyes, feels like the best way to protect their fragile, all-consuming romance.

But when a crisis forces the new Duke and Duchess back to London, the Band-Aid they’d placed over their problems starts to peel at the edges. Now, as old family secrets and new ones threaten to derail her new royal life, Bex has to face the emotional wreckage she and Nick left behind: with the Queen, with the world, and with Nick’s brother Freddie, whose sins may not be so easily forgotten — nor forgiven.

I admit I was under the impression that this novel was Freddie's story. He's the "spare" (the Harry in the authors' royal family) and played a large role in Nick and Bex's lives in the first book. However. The sequel is not told from Freddie's point of view. We're still firmly in the life of Nick and Bex and she tells the story to the reader in first person POV. This wasn't a problem, of course, I like Bex. I just had to quickly adjust my thinking of how this novel was going to go.

And go it does. It clocks in at over 460 pages, just about 10 pages longer than the first book, which I recall being ginormous. It meant I spent a good chunk of a summer Friday afternoon reading the book and still wasn't close to being finished (it's a good time when you get sprung from work early, especially right now). Normally I'm all for a book being long because it means I have more time to spend with the story and the characters. But...I would like it if there weren't tangents that took away from the main story or if the extra pages had been spent tying up some loose ends I think should have been tied. (There's a potential for a third book but given the second one took five years to get to us, I don't know if we'll get a third any time soon.) While I like the large cast of supporting characters and quite enjoyed the spoof on the Great British Bake Off  (or Great British Baking Show as it's known to those in North America), I kind of think that whole part of the book took away from the rest of the story. I think it was to give a fan favourite secondary character their own time to shine but it didn't fully work for me.

The other thing that didn't quite work for me was the big revelation at the end of the novel. Obviously I am not going to tell you what that is because spoilers but it felt extremely far-fetched. Granted, it played with the idea that we really don't know what goes on in the private lives of the British Royal Family. Things are hushed up and we, the peasants general public, will never, ever hear about them. But the way the story line unfolded? I was just kind of like...wtf is even happening and how can they be agreeing to this and be ok with that? If you've read it, you know what I've talking about and I am here for a deep dive conversation if anyone else needs/wants to talk it out.

Other than those things I wasn't super fussy about, the rest of the book was as entertaining, dramatic (in both the best and most bonkers ways - the latter being a positive because I enjoy bonkers when it's done well), heart-wrenching, funny, and clever. 

There were times I was (literally) laughing out loud and times I felt as tied up in knots and anxious as the characters felt. Cocks and Morgan know how to write to get the emotions their characters are feeling off the page and directly into the readers' hearts. 

I absolutely loved that Bex turns Queen Eleanor into a Cubs fan the year they won the World Series. First, it's a hilarious coincidence, and one they reference, that of course the team breaks the curse the year a monarch decides to cheer for them. Second, I just love when baseball is featured in novels especially when it's a female character who's the fan. Third, it's just a whole lovely and hilarious section of the plot that works to elevate and strengthen a few relationships and I adored it.

I also have to point out how amusing it was to have Bex and Nick visit Canada as well as having Eleanor reading a copy of The Globe and Mail, one of our national newspapers. Oh, and the reference to our Prime Minister's hair. It's especially full of life right now given the pandemic! We don't often get to have Canada in such mainstream books so it's always nice to see a slice of my country in my reading material.

If you want a book with all of the feelings in a giant package, The Heir Affair is for you. Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan give readers a new royal story that has every emotion imaginable and a cast of characters who are full of flaws but have, for the most part, good hearts. I'm glad the authors were finally able to give us this sequel and I hope we get another novel sooner rather than later.

*An egalley was provided by the Canadian distributor, Hachette Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Postscript

I read P.S. I Love You a long, long time ago. Cecelia Ahern's breakout novel was published in 2004 and the movie was released in 2007. I definitely know I read it before watching it because I remember being annoyed at the bizarre things that were changed in the movie. All that to say, I had to stretch my memory almost 15 years to remember what happened in the first book when I picked up the sequel, Postscript, back in September.

Here's the synopsis:

It's been seven years since Holly Kennedy's husband died – six since she read his final letter, urging Holly to find the courage to forge a new life.
She’s proud of all the ways in which she has grown and evolved. But when a group inspired by Gerry's letters, calling themselves the PS, I Love You Club, approaches Holly asking for help, she finds herself drawn back into a world that she worked so hard to leave behind.
Reluctantly, Holly begins a relationship with the club, even as their friendship threatens to destroy the peace she believes she has achieved. As each of these people calls upon Holly to help them leave something meaningful behind for their loved ones, Holly will embark on a remarkable journey – one that will challenge her to ask whether embracing the future means betraying the past, and what it means to love someone forever…

I'm not sure Postscript could have stood alone without the success of P.S. I Love You. The Holly in this book has gotten stuck. She wasn't in a great place in the first book, obviously, but you can tell that she hasn't quite gotten to really living part of her new life. She's kind of just...existing. I'm not blaming her, I can't imagine what it would be like to lose your partner and try to move on. Even though she sometimes seemed like someone you couldn't be friends with, she was very much a hot mess, I was rooting for her the entire time.

I found the novel to be really...I don't necessarily want to say realistic but Ahern did not sugarcoat things. Holly had a lot of really hard things to get through in this story and Ahern didn't pull any punches. Yes, facing, once again six years later, what Gerry's death did to her was hell. Of course it was. Helping others, while usually a noble pursuit, is not helping her and her not-quite-healed wound. Is it what she should be doing? Or is it something she feels she has to do? Holly has a lot to grapple with and it was sometimes hard to read as she worked things out.

And the members of the PS I Love You club? They'll break your heart. Not intentionally, of course, but how could you not be heartbroken once you meet members who are so wonderful and who are facing a terminal illness? It's hard but sweet all at once.

Ultimately, I was really happy with the way this story turned out. It's heartbreaking but I had forgotten the way Ahern tells her stories and how great they are, even when dealing with something less than ideal.

And heads up: the rights to this book have been sold too so a movie is a-comin'. Let's hope it's a better adaptation.

I was a fan of Postscript and was reminded why I used to read everything Cecelia Ahern wrote. Your heart will get a little bruised while reading this one but it will be so much fuller by the end.

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Blog Tour: Wild at Heart

K.A. Tucker introduced readers to Calla, a city girl if there ever was one, and Jonah, an Alaskan bush pilot and very much not a city boy, almost two years ago. Some people didn't like Calla. They thought she was stuck up or clueless or rude - or all of the above and more. Those people tended not to like The Simple Wild. Me? I loved the book. It was one of my favourites of 2018 and one I still recommend to many people. Calla isn't perfect because no one is. But the story Tucker created? Well, that was close to perfection. It's no surprise I am beyond thrilled that she chose to self-publish Wild at Heart so readers can continue on Calla and Jonah's journey and remember why and how we all fell in love with them and their story.

Here's the synopsis:

Calla Fletcher returns to Toronto a different person, struggling to find direction and still very much in love with the rugged bush pilot she left behind. When Jonah arrives on her doorstep with a proposition she can’t dismiss, she takes the leap and rushes back to Alaska to begin their exciting future together.
But Calla soon learns that even the best intentions can lead to broken promises, and that compromise comes with a hefty price—a log cabin in interior rural Alaska that feels as isolating as the western tundra.
With Jonah gone more than he’s home, one neighbor who insists on transforming her into a true Alaskan, and another who seems more likely to shoot her than come to her aid, Calla grapples with forging her own path. In a world with roaming wildlife that has her constantly watching over her shoulder and harsh conditions that stretch far beyond the cold, dark, winter months, just stepping outside her front door can be daunting.
This is not the future Calla had in mind, leaving her to fear that perhaps she is doomed to follow in her mother’s fleeing footsteps after all. 

Sequels can be tricky. Especially when they weren't exactly planned. I'm speaking as a reader and I imagine it's even harder for the author. When I finished The Simple Wild I figured that was it. I loved it and of course didn't want it to end but I thought that was all I was going to get. I was excited, and a bit nervous, when I found out Tucker would be writing a sequel. I couldn't wait to get back to these characters and find out what they were up to and where their lives would go next. But what if I didn't like this one as much? What if I realize I didn't like the first one as much as I thought I did? These are thoughts of a reader who thinks too much, yes, I know. I didn't need to worry though. Tucker's sequel is wonderful and angsty and emotional, just as I'd hoped it would be.

A delayed warning regarding spoilers: if you have not read The Simple Wild but want to and do not like spoilers, I would suggest you go read the book and then come back here. I won't give spoilers for Wild at Heart but as it comes directly after another book, well, I'm sure something could get spoiled for someone.

Calla and Jonah both have personalities that are not for everyone. What I love about both characters though is the other side of them that's kind of deeply buried and only shown to those closest to them. It takes time for them to trust others, I think, and that makes them both come across as prickly or stubborn or just plain rude. I liked that this book allowed the reader to really see the softer, if you want to call it that, side of them both. They're way more vulnerable in this book because they've made a massive life choice after an equally massive life change, with Wren, Calla's father and Jonah's father figure, dying at the end of the first book. That would be hard enough to get through when you're not uprooting your life and moving to the other side of the country and, in fact, to another country, as Calla does.

This book is emotional in all the right ways. I mean, yes, I was close to tears at some points but that's just because Tucker is such a damn good writer that I was feeling as anxious, lonely, frustrated, and scared as Calla was (Jonah was feeling some of those things too but Calla is the focus of the book). But even with all of those feelings, Calla still knew she was in the right place. She had to figure out how to make the best of the situation - and needed some harsh words to see that - but being with Jonah was ultimately the most important thing.

This is a romance, sure, but it's so much more than that. It's about what makes these two people tick and how they work as a couple. So, I really liked how much family played a part in this story and how family can be different than traditionally assumed. Family was important in The Simple Wild too but both Calla and Jonah realize throughout the second novel that family is integral to their happiness so I really hoped they could figure out a way to work that into their lives by the end of the book.

This isn't just a emotional, angst-filled story. There are lots of light-hearted moments (and some steamy ones too!) that really give a well-rounded look at Calla and Jonah's lives. There's a fainting goat and his raccoon sidekick, as well as an incident involving a truck and a moose that gets compared to an episode of Schitt's Creek by one of the new characters introduced in this book. I think great novels include the good, the bad, and the ugly and Tucker always comes through with all the best and messiest parts of life in her stories.

The setting is a character as well. I've never been to Alaska (though my sister has, including to the North Pole, one of the towns Jonah flies Calla over) but I feel like Tucker was able to really capture the setting and how it would feel to live there. I grew up in a small town, not like Toronto where Calla grew up, so I might have a better transition but I know I would struggle, even with the views they had from their house (oh, to live on a lake...).

I don't know how much of this rambling review tells you about Wild at Heart but know this: K.A. Tucker has written yet another stunning novel that you're going to be completely obsessed with while you're reading it (and probably awhile after too...the book hangover is real with this one). I highly recommend you read this book, and The Simple Wild too if you haven't yet.

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*An egalley of this novel was provided via NetGalley by Social Butterfly PR in exchange for a review for the purpose of a blog tour. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Half Spent Was the Night

In 2017, my book club read Ami McKay's The Witches of New York and we (mostly) all loved it. Personally, I loved it because it was well-written and such a good story about witches as they could have existed. Harry Potter is great and all but that kind of magic never really seems real (no matter how many of us hope(d) for a letter from Hogwarts ourselves). The magic in the world McKay has created seems entirely possible. When my book club learned there would be a novella that would allow us to see what Adelaide, Eleanor, and Beatrice were up to, we were ecstatic and immediately knew Half Spent Was the Night would be our December 2018 pick.

Here's the novella's (it's only 92 pages!) description:

Beloved author Ami McKay is back, bringing us a magical follow-up in the tradition of Victorian winter tales to her mesmerizing bestseller, The Witches of New York. 
During the nights between Christmas and New Year's, the witches of New York--Adelaide Thom, Eleanor St. Clair and the youngest, Beatrice Dunn--gather before the fire to tell ghost stories and perform traditional Yuletide divinations. (Did you know that roasting chestnuts were once used to foretell one's fate?)
As the witches roast chestnuts and melt lead to see their fate, a series of odd messengers land on their doorstep bearing invitations for a New Year's Eve masquerade hosted by a woman they've never met. Gossip, dreams and portents follow, leading the witches to question the woman's motives. Is she as benevolent as she seems or is she laying a trap. And so, as Gilded-Age New York prepares to ring in the new year, the witches don their finery and head for the ball, on the hunt for answers that might well be the end of them.

The book is subtitled A Witches' Yuletide and I had thought (before reading the synopsis) it would take place at Christmas. Instead, the story begins on December 29 and ends on New Year's Day, with an epic New Year's Eve party in between. (A quick Google search of yuletide also provided some background information - yay, learning!)

The book opens with a line I absolutely love and thought of often during the same time frame last year:

Is that not perfection?

As you'd expect, this book was as well written as the first Witches book. The world McKay has created is so interesting and the characters, the three main witches especially, are so multi-layered and fascinating.

All that being said...I know it's a novella and it isn't supposed to be long buuuut I found it way too short. I could have used more time with the women to really feel like I understood how they were feeling about their lives at that moment and about the mysterious New Year's Eve party. The story almost felt surface level and there wasn't quite the depth I wanted and expected from McKay. Even though it was well written. Am I even making sense? The best I can figure is this story was published to fully wrap up a storyline from the first book and to introduce the next twist. (And holy is it ever an interesting twist!)

The magic at the party was much more...grandiose, let's say, than what you normally encounter with these witches. But, once things wind down and you realize what really happened...you know why it was such a spectacle. I wish that explanation had been explored a bit more because I felt like I was missing something.

I am glad I read Half Spent Was the Night and think that anyone else who loved The Witches of New York should read it as well. It didn't quite satisfy my need for a sequel though so I will continue to impatiently wait for the next full length novel (oh, how I hope there actually will be a next) about these witches from Ami McKay.

*A copy of this book was provided by Penguin Random House in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: She's the Boss

A couple of years ago I read Lisa Lim's debut novel Confessions of a Call Center Gal (the review can be found here) and enjoyed it. When Lisa asked me to review the sequel, She's the Boss, I immediately said yes. As I suspected I was constantly giggling and that really helped me enjoy the novel.

Here's the synopsis:

The Devil Wears Prada meets The Office. Twenty-something Karsynn is now a boss but she's not so much The Devil Wears Prada as she is The Angel Wears Payless. With a brighter career, things should be going better for Karsynn, right? Wrong. There's now a new director at the office--Carter Lockwood, and he's brought his reputation for wrecking havoc amongst the ladies. Karsynn prides herself in being the only one impervious to Carter's good looks. In fact, she takes great pleasure in blowing on the embers of Carter's hostility.
Karsynn thinks Carter is arrogant and obnoxious. Carter thinks Karsynn is an ignorant, sassy spitfire. But when they start working closely together, they discover that first impressions can be deceptive. Karsynn may be winning the battle against Carter, but will she lose the war? And more importantly, will she lose her heart?

One of the things that  kind of stuck out for me was that I thought the book actually needed more build up to the romance - it was sort of a surprise when Karsynn realized she liked Carter. (Romance actually seems like a bad word choice as neither Kars nor Carter are particularly romantic!) I know that seems silly because everyone always wishes there was more of a surprise factor when the heroine and hero get together. In this case I was just struggling to understand how their feelings changed. Does that make sense? By the end I could tell that they were going to work well together so that helped reconcile whatever odd feelings I had about the whole situation.

Like I said, this book was funny. Karsynn manages to get herself into some hilarious situations that were a lot of fun to read about. Unfortunately, I didn't make good notes while reading this book so I don't have any specifics. One part that sticks out, and I've actually referenced recently, is when Kars is told that her team needs to cut down on the swearing while working. Her response? To tell her team to replace curse words with a place on the map. Trust me, hilarity ensues.

I also just have to share this:

A snippet from my review of Confessions of a Call Centre Gal made it into this book! Whee!

If you like an offbeat sense of humour, pop culture references, and entertaining stories, give She's the Boss a read. (Though I'd suggest reading Confessions of a Call Center Gal first!) Lisa Lim delivers a great story with crazy characters that you'll find yourself wanting to party with.

Happy reading :)

Author Guest Post: Romi Moondi

A big thank you to Romi Moondi for stopping by to chat about what she's up to this year. If you missed it, I reviewed her novel Year of the Chick on Tuesday as part of a CLP Blog Tour (you can read my review here). I hope you enjoy this guest post as much as I did!

"Sequel-ing" in 2012

Hi Kaley, thanks for giving me a chance to talk about what "writing life" will be in 2012!


Well…


…In 2009, writing my "Year of the Chick" blog into an edgy chick-lit novel was THE most exciting concept ever.


As 2012 begins, the thrill of writing the sequel trumps the first.


Perhaps it's because like in "Year of the Chick," an "inspired by real life" story continues, with a plot for book two that means the world to me.


It could also be the fact that I already wrote the sequel.


Last year.


As a screenplay.


I know that sounds like a topsy-turvy thing, since you only ever hear of books written first then adapted into screenplays after. Besides which, I'd never even written a screenplay in my whole frickin' life!


Needless to say, in March 2011, it was not in my plans to write a screenplay.


But I didn't really have a choice.


Now let me be clear, I was not chained to a typewriter by some over-zealous director who was forcing me to pump out the word count. Instead it was little ol' me, this freshly broken-hearted girl, who thought to herself "the last six months felt exactly like a movie…so why not write one?"


And then it began…the books I bought on how to write screenplays, the reading of free screenplays that were available online…I was obsessed. Two months, many late nights, and several writing sessions at Starbucks later, I had done it.


A fictional screenplay called "Best Before," somewhat inspired by real life.


Once I was finished, I had no idea what to do with it. I just knew that I'd obeyed the muse, so I was happy. So happy in fact, that I forked over some cash to enter international screenplay competitions.


Just for fun.


To my surprise, I advanced in seven screenplay contests in 2011. From finalist showings, to semi-finals, to top 5%, to top 15, I was overjoyed. The results made it clear that my sequel to "Year of the Chick" had just been written without my knowing.


And it all began on a whim in March 2011.


Huh.


So here I am, ready to roll up my sleeves, and turn a screenplay that means so much to me into the sequel of "Year of the Chick." I am proud to add a second installment to the "Year of the Chick" series, since that very first novel was the first full-length thing that meant the world to me.


I hope this series will mean something to a lot of readers too.


Thanks,


Romi