All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

I usually like Jennifer Weiner's books  - I love to read books that make me laugh.  Although I laughed some at All Fall Down, the topic of housewives being addicted to pills was not a funny subject matter.  But I did stay with the book and had a hard time putting it down.  Some of the addiction problems hit a little close to home as we all know someone with addiction issues.  Allison Weiss's life too me was sad - new big empty house she did not pick out or could not afford, a husband that did not pay attention to her, a daughter with some problems, a father with Alzheimer's, a mother that did not pay attention to her, etc. - she felt entitled to those pills to me to escape her horrible life!  I did feel like Jennifer did a lot of research on the subject matter.  The ending was not tied up with a pretty bow but that would be realistic with this subject matter.

This book would make a good discussion book for book club.  I'd give it 4 1/2 stars.  

Book Description from Amazon:

Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, adorable daughter, a job she loves, and the big house in the suburbs. But while waiting in the pediatrician’s office, she opens a magazine to a quiz about addiction and starts to wonder…Is a Percocet at the end of the day really different from a glass of wine? Is it such a bad thing to pop a Vicodin after a brutal Jump & Pump class…or if your husband ignores you?

The pills help her manage the realities of her good-looking life: that her husband is distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother is barely managing to cope. She tells herself that they let her make it through her days…but what if her increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all?

With a sparkling comedic touch and a cast of unforgettable characters, this remarkable story of a woman’s slide into addiction and struggle to find her way back up again is Jennifer Weiner’s most masterful work yet.

The Job Proposal by Wendy Chen

I was lucky to get an advance copy of The Job Proposal by Wendy Chen and enjoyed the quick summer read.  The main character Kate has figured out how to think like a man  - lots of one night stands with no long term romances so she won't get hurt, work long hours, no friends at work and concentrate on her career.  A lonely life but she is hoping this strategy will help her in the long run with career advancement.  When it becomes evident Kate needs a finance to help her career, she finds the perfect man for her fiance' who needs a green card.  When her best friend from high school comes to visit Kate, her views on life, career, and romance begin to slowly change.  This was a good read - great way to spend a lazy summer day!  I'd give it 4 stars - fun read!  

Book Description - Amazon:

All's fair in love and work.

Kate is enjoying being engaged—that it's a hoax is beside the point. To succeed at her ultra-conservative finance job she needs to reform her flighty, party-girl reputation, and a good old fashioned marriage of convenience is exactly what she needs to put her one step closer to the promotion of her dreams. But when Adam, Kate's best friend from high school, arrives for a visit, her perfect arrangement suddenly isn't so perfect anymore.

The nerdy boy she remembers from her teen years has grown into a gorgeous and successful man, and he's vying for her affection. Soon all the things Kate thinks she wants will change, and everything she doesn't know she needs, she may not be able to live without.

But will she be able to let down the walls she’s built to guard her heart and trade her fierce independence for love?

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Between Husbands and Friends by Nancy Thayer

I recently finished reading Between Husbands and Friends by Nancy Thayer - this book has recently been re-released in an e-book form.  I love reading anything by Nancy Thayer so I was excited to see this release that I have never read before.  This was a good summer read and an in-depth  look at the friendship between Lucy West and Kate Cunningham and their two families through the years.  As secrets are revealed, their lives become unravelled.  Some parts of the story were glossed over - so I'll just give it 4 stars.



 Book Description by Amazon:
When Lucy West and Kate Cunningham meet, the two spirited young women recognize kindred spirits in each other. Both Lucy and Kate married early and lack complete confidence in the brave new world of mothering. As their friendship deepens, their lives become fully intertwined. With husbands and children in tow, they spend glorious summers together in a large house on Nantucket island, sailing and feasting on lobster—and when their husbands are back on the mainland, the two women even get a chance to kick up their heels. The closest of allies, Lucy and Kate share their highs and lows, their joys and darkest secrets.
 
Or so Kate thought. One summer, in the midst of a devastating family crisis, Lucy reveals a truth she has long kept hidden from her best friend. And in the aftermath of this astonishing  revelation, the lives of the Wests and the Cunninghams will never be the same.
 

Your Perfect Life by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke

I just raced through reading Your Perfect Life by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke - it was a fun summer read!  Best friends Casey and Rachel end up switching bodies and lives after a high school reunion.  Casey is single and a successful TV host while Rachel is a busy, tired stay-at-home mom.  Their story may have been told before but I really enjoyed reading this book!  I'd give it 4 1/2 stars and would recommend it to my friends and book club.  There is a reading guide book for discussion in the back of the book.

Book Description from Amazon:

Two childhood best friends wake up the morning after their twentieth high school reunion to discover that they’ve switched bodies in this hilarious and heartwarming debut by two childhood best friends.

With “a delicious, page-turning premise, and sweet and surprising insights” (New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster), Your Perfect Life perfectly illustrates that old adage: Sometimes, you have to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes to see what’s in her heart.

Best friends since childhood, Casey and Rachel couldn’t lead more different lives. While workaholic Casey rubs elbows with celebrities daily as the host of Gossip TV and comes home nightly to an empty apartment, stay-at-home mom Rachel juggles an “oops” baby, two fiery teenagers, and a husband who barely seems the man she fell in love with two decades before. After an argument at their twentieth high school reunion, Casey and Rachel throw back shots to get the night back on track. Instead, they get a life-changing hangover.

Waking up in each other’s bodies the next morning, they must figure out how to navigate their altered realities. Rachel is forced to face the broadcasting dreams she gave up when she got pregnant in college, and Casey finally steps out of the spotlight to face the real reason why she’s alone. And they soon discover that they don’t know themselves—or their best friend—nearly as well as they thought they did.

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke bring their “witty, winning style” (Sarah Pekkanen, author of The Best of Us) to every page of this novel that is sure to please fans of In Her Shoes and The Opposite of Me. Your Perfect Life is a story of humor and heart about two best friends, what they didn’t know about each other, and how, by switching lives, each learns to appreciate her own.

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The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman

I found this book - The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman on a list of favorite romantic comedy reads so I thought I'd give it a shot.  It was the perfect escape while held captive in my house with workers replacing a water heater and cleaning up the flooded mess that ensued!  This book kinda reminds me of The Rosie Project as the main character - Alice Thrift - also does not have social skills - may have Asperger's - but she is definitely not trying to find a spouse like The Rosie Project.  This was a fun read - may have to buy another Elinor Lipman novel to read while next dealing with sheet rock repair and painters!  Oh well - at least I'll be entertained while waiting for workers!  I'd give this 4 stars.


Book Description from Amazon:
In her newest well-tuned, witty, and altogether wonderful novel, bestselling author Elinor Lipman dares to ask: Can an upper-middle-class doctor find love with a shady, fast-talking salesman?

Meet Alice Thrift, surgical intern in a Boston hospital, high of I.Q. but low in social graces. She doesn’t mean to be acerbic, clinical, or blunt, but where was she the day they taught Bedside Manner 101? Into Alice’s workaholic and wallflower life comes Ray Russo, a slick traveling fudge salesman in search of a nose job and well-heeled companionship, but not necessarily in that order. Is he a conman or a sincere suitor? Good guy or bad? Alice’s parents, roommate, and best friend Sylvie are appalled at her choice of mate. Despite her doubts, Alice finds herself walking down the aisle, not so much won over as worn down. Will their marriage last the honeymoon? Only if Alice’s best instincts can triumph over Ray’s unsavory ways.

Forever Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Forever Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid is getting lots of buzz so I was excited to read it.  This book did not disappoint - I zipped through it in a couple of days.  Elsie Porter meets the love of her life Ben Ross and they quickly form a relationship and marry in 6 months time.  Alas, Ben did not tell his mother about their relationship which becomes a problem when Ben dies in a freak accident.

This book is not just about overcoming grief but forming relationships and healing.  I enjoyed following Elsie's and Ben's romance and seeing the bond form between Elsie and Ben's mother Susan.

Great book - would highly recommend but would note to readers this is a story that doesn't necessarily appeal to everyone especially readers that like the fairy tale endings and happily ever afters.  5 stars.

Book Description from Amazon:
Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.

Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met—and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted will remind you that there’s more than one way to find a happy ending.

Catching Air by Sarah Pekkanen

I finished Catching Air by Sarah Pekkanen in a couple of days.  I've loved her past work and was looking forward to this book.  This is a good read but not quite as good as her other books.  I found myself not really relating to the female characters.  I did enjoy the book so 4 stars.


Book Description from Amazon:

From the internationally bestselling author of four books, including The Opposite of Me, a vibrant, compulsively readable novel about two married couples who pursue a dream to open a bed-and-breakfast in small-town Vermont.

In her previous works including The Best of Us, “rising star” (Library Journal) Sarah Pekkanen captivated readers by penning “refreshingly introspective, sharply realistic, and tenderly humorous” novels (Booklist) that had readers “flying through the pages” (Hoda Kotb, Todayshow). Now, in Catching Air, Pekkanen turns an unflinching eye on the tangled relationships of two pairs of thirty-somethings.

A chance to run a B&B in snowy, remote Vermont—it’s an offer Kira Danner can’t resist after six soul-crushing years of working as a lawyer in Florida. As Kira and her husband, Peter, step into a brand new life, she quells her fears about living with the B&B’s co-owners: Peter’s sexy, irresponsible brother Rand, and Rand’s wife, Alyssa…who is essentially a stranger.

For her part, Alyssa sees taking over the B&B as the latest in a string of adventures. Plus, a quiet place might help her recover from the news that she can’t bear children. But the idyllic town proves to be anything but serene: Within weeks, the sisters-in-law are scrambling to prepare for their first big booking—a winter wedding—and soon a shy, mysterious woman comes to work for them. Dawn Zukoski is hiding something; that much is clear. But what the sisters-in-law don't realize is that Dawn is also hiding from someone…

Relatable and dynamic, Catching Air delves deeply into the vital relationships that give shape to women’s lives.