Reading Recap

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion was recommended to my by my friend Jeni and it was short and sweet and totally unique and I ate it up!  It took me a minute to get used to the writing style but I found it charming and can't wait to read the second journal.

“I’ve arrived in London without incident. There are few triumphs in my recent life, but I count this as one. My existence of the last three years has been nothing but incident.”

The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House."

 The Vacation House was MUCH darker than I thought it was going to be (again, maybe I should be reading a bit about these books before I dive in - hahaha) but I'm still thinking about it.  It's told from the point of view of Sofie (2003) the daughter of a the caretaker of a vacation villa in Greece and Julia (2023) the wife of a British headmaster and how their stories intertwine was unexpected and really intriguing.  

"Two women. Two secrets. One terrible night.

PAXOS, GREECE

The vacation house is a luxurious getaway for a wealthy English family, windows open to sun and the sea, a sparkling swimming pool, and a verdant garden. One hot summer night, while the parents and their friends drink wine and amuse themselves, a young woman—the teenage daughter of the Greek caretaker—ventures for a walk on their private beach. Her life will never be the same again.

LONDON, ENGLAND, TEN YEARS LATER

Julia is the perfect spouse and mother. Slender, blonde, expensively dressed, she’s the classic “yummy mummy” of high society: cook, organizer, arm candy, and speechwriter to her influential husband.

But behind her winning smile is a stifled woman trapped in a gilded cage, stricken with anxiety and perfectionism. When Julia meets Laurel, a therapist who promises to help her find fulfillment, Julia opens herself up to the hope of a different future.

BOUND BY THE PAST

What happened in Greece all those years ago that binds these two women together? And will uncovering the truth destroy everything… or set them free?"

The Lucky Widow was another audible listen that I listened to in a day.  I'm not sure I've hated a character as much as I hated Nathaniel and I found myself rooting for Emma from page one.  It had a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming and my original prediction was totally wrong - which I LOVE! Overall this was a fun and quick read!

"Wishing your husband dead isn’t a crime...

When you return from a work trip to find your husband dead in the pond, it’s best not to call him a liar and a cheat in front of the cops. Especially when you’ve spent the last few years telling anyone who’ll listen that you sometimes fantasize about killing him. It makes you look kind of, well, guilty.

Now I’m suspect number one for Nathaniel’s murder and the police are snooping around our perfect home. And the house is perfect because I designed it, down to the last marbled detail. You could say I designed our marriage, too. As soon as I saw Nathaniel—so handsome, successful, a surgeon—I knew I wanted him. Sadly our marriage wasn’t quite as perfect as our house. But whose is?

The cops want to talk to our daughters, our friends, even our staff. There’s the housekeeper, the cook, the pool cleaner, the dog walker. But like me they were all out of town when he died. They won’t have anything to say about what happened. Certainly nothing that will suggest I had something to do with it…"

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year was a recommendation on audible and I decided I could use a little festive fun.  The romance part of the book was a little "much" for me (not in like a graphic way - just in a kind of cheesy unrealistic over the top way) but the rest of it felt nostalgic and very "old school whodunnit mystery" in the best possible way.  

"The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room two days before Christmas.

Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:

She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.

He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy.

She hates his guts.

He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)

But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.

That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.

She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?

As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor."

Happy reading, friends!!!