Carol Mason (2)

Domestic Drama With A Touch Of Loss Lake. This is an engaging, real, and honestly a bit depressing look at the trials and travails of your first marriage being your partner's second marriage and coming into a situation where they already had a family with another person while you're still growing and working to establish yourself outside of the marriage as well. In that vein, Mason was startlingly real, including all of the various messy issues that can come up and even showing how finding a place to find support or even just vent can be crucial. The ties to Lake Union stablemate Amber Cowie's Loss Lake... well, in the title of my review of that book, I proclaimed "Screw You (In The Best Possible Ways), Amber Cowie" - which I still chuckle at and produced a few good laughs by those in the know. And if you do know why I wrote that, know that you'll be saying the same thing to Ms. Mason for similar (though to be clear, not identical) reasons. And that's all I'm saying about that. If you don't know what I'm referring to, I suggest you go read *both* books. :D

Seriously, this tale was excellently done on a topic and with particulars that I'd never seen done quite this way before, and that is always something I seek out and love to find. Mason executed everything beautifully, and you'll find yourself constantly reading to see what comes next. You just may want something a bit more bubble gum for your *next* read. :D Very much recommended.… (mehr)

Thank You to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this eBook!!

For Emily Rossi, life may not be perfect, but it’s pretty close. She has a great career, a house in the country, a solid marriage to Eric and two wonderful children, Daniel and Zara. But when Zara brings home a toxic new best friend Bethany, Emily’s seemingly perfect family starts to spiral out of control.

This was an intense book!! It's full of suspense and twists that keeps you turning pages to find out the little white secrets (which btw were not little at all) !!… (mehr)

Thank you, NetGalley, for my e-ARC.

"Such and such has the PERFECT life." If only...The grass is always greener...True or not, most of us are prone to such feelings.

It would seem that Emily Rossi has an enviable life : beautiful home, career, loving husband, and two model children. The reality is not so pretty. Her mother recently passed away. Her career as a professor of PR & Communications is in jeopardy. Her friendship with her neighbor, Charlotte, is on a break after a falling out. Her relationship with her husband Eric is going through a rough patch. He is an absentee father and husband, unavailable to his family due to his away job and excessive drinking. Her daughter, Zara, lives in the shadow of her older brother, tennis superstar, Daniel, and has become BFF's with toxic Bethany. Ironically, Emily and Zara first met Bethany and her equally unbalanced mother, Janet, when they came to their door fundraising for domestic violence.

Emily blames herself and Eric for the negative change in Zara. They were so consumed with Daniel's tennis aspirations that Zara was not given her fair share of their love and attention. Emily is determined to make up for lost time. But it may be too little too late. Feeling alone and overwhelmed, Emily comes to depend on Steve, a new neighbor. He is reliable, empathetic, attractive, single, and...interested. She is sorely tempted. Steve is everything Eric is not. At least, not anymore.

Set in England. Two timelines, present and past. Written from the perspectives of Emily and Eric, this was a realistic rendering of an imperfect family in crisis. The Little White Secrets start revealing gradually. So many secrets. Until the end, when all is out in the open. Again... too late. But, would it have better if they were uncovered sooner?

This women's fiction title was a change of pace from the suspense thrillers I typically read. A bit wordy at times, but overall, it was ok.… (mehr)