Similar to the infamous Casey Anthony trial, Blood Money`s Jack Swyteck is the attorney for Sidney Bennett. Sidney has been charged with murdering her daughter, Emily, and is on trial for her life. The prosecution has painted a not so likeable image of Sidney because she`s been photographed drinking, dancing and showing absolutely no sorrow while others are frantically searching for Emily. Was she a party girl who felt her lifestyle was being cramped by her daughter? Could she have murdered Emily because of this? Good questions! Unfortunately, Emily`s body is not found for three years and a cause of death cannot be determined. Public opinion says `guilty,` but the verdict comes back as `not guilty.` This one`s a good read!

Reviewed by Barbara C., Morrison Regional

See more titles featured in Beach Reading

Add your comments about this book

As you age are you able to step out of your comfort zone and familiar life to risk finding a different and even better life? Berg captures the true heart of women. Cecilia, a grieving older women, has lost her best friend and is dealing with her lose. She sells her house and takes time off from her job, after getting a postcard from a man from her past. She packs her bags and heads out on a road trip to visit her long lost love. Three of her close friends decide to tag along. One friend wants to connect with a daughter, one looks for a new cooking career, while another wants to visit an ex-husband. All the women are forever changed by the side trips along the way. Tapestry of Fortunes is a celebration of finding miracles in ordinary life.

Reviewed by Gay Ann L., Independence Regional

Read the Author Interview with Elizabeth Berg

See more titles featured in Beach Reading

See more titles featured in Books for Book Clubs

Add your comments about this book

Before beginning Best Kept Secret I would strongly recommend reading Only Time Will Tell and Sins of the Father. With the will settled for the Barrington title and fortune and Emma and Harry Clifton married, thus begins the third Archer book about these families. Emma sets out to find the baby girl left in her father’s office when he was murdered. Giles Barrington thinks he has found the woman he loves while everyone else detests her. Elizabeth Barrington dies causing a rift between the siblings. Sebastian finds trouble when he thinks he’s lost his parent’s dream. When enemies from the past and present surface machinations develop on many levels. The plot moves swiftly with many unexpected twists and turns characteristic of Archer. The last sentence evokes a gasp and leaves a heart-wrenching cliffhanger that ensures a fourth in the series.

Reviewed by Sheila C., Steele Creek Branch

Add your comments about this book

In Cherbourg, France, Brit Tess Collins abruptly leaves her dead-end domestic service position and hurries to the port where a large ship bound for America offers hope for a better life. Plucky Tess is an aspiring seamstress and she lucks out by being hired right there on the dock by a wealthy renowned designer who needs a maid. Lady Lucile Duff Gordon doubts Tess’s abilities as her maid but she is impressed by the stitches on her handmade outfit. And so, the Duff Gordons along with new maid board their “ship of dreams” to America -- the Titanic. Author Alcott, aka Patricia O’Brien, avoids the unsinkable hype by focusing on the survivors and the government inquiries. Survivor Tess must make a crucial decision in the grim aftermath.

Reviewed by Susanne W., Steele Creek Branch

See more titles featured in Historical Fiction

See more titles featured in Adult Books for Teens

See more titles featured in Historical Romance

Add your comments about this book

Ann Patchett's novel, Run, is set in Boston during a 24 hour period that changes the Doyle family forever. The author drew me in from the first page with her rich character development. Although the issues of being a multi-racial family in a privileged environment is explored and contrasted against the challenges of the less privileged, these issues were not the focus of the story. Rather, the author's message is more about how a family relearns how to love and support one another after the core of the family is lost and how to open themselves up to someone unexpected who needs them. I highly recommend this book.

Reviewed by Marcy F., South County Regional

Add your comments about this book