Book Review-Colleen Hoover's Verity

Desperate for money and low on options, writer Lowen Ashleigh takes a business meeting that will change her life. She is offered a contract to finish a book series by famed author Verity Crawford, who has suffered an accident, but who is still alive. Verity’s husband, Jeremy, invites Lowen to stay in their home, so that she may sort through Verity’s office and writing notes. Verity cannot speak or move, but she is still living in their home, confined to the master bedroom, where she is cared for by Jeremy and day nurses.

Lowen is hesitant to stay in the Crawford home, but as she is low on cash and being evicted from her apartment, the offer comes at an opportune time. She spends her days studying Verity’s notes and her nights growing closer to the handsome and charismatic Jeremy. As time passes, Lowen begins to suspect that Verity’s accident and resulting trauma may not be what it seems.

This was my first Colleen Hoover novel. I work at a bookstore and I’ve witnessed such an enthusiasm for Hoover’s books, that I needed to understand the hype for myself. All of Hoover’s other novels are shelved under romance, while Verity is considered a mystery. I tend to prefer mystery to romance, so I thought Verity would be the best choice for my first Hoover novel. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Verity leans more romance than mystery. It has a lot of steamy scenes, much more than an average mystery novel. Yes, it does have heavy elements of mystery and suspense, but quite often, more that I thought necessary, it dove back into romance. I’m not a prude and I don’t mind romance, but I have to confess that I wanted Hoover to get back to the mystery/suspense elements of the story.

I can see why Hoover is popular. Verity is a quick-paced, intriguing read with strong characters and great twists. I read it on a flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii, never putting it down to rest my eyes: a true page-turner. I loved the unsettling vibe of a strangers house and the intrigue of a “too good to be true” offer from the family of a prominent author. The concept for Verity was appealing and had me hooked from the first chapter. The ending is quite surprising and diabolical!

I enjoyed Verity enough that I am interested in stepping outside of my book comfort zone and reading one of Hoover’s romance novels. My stepdaughter read Hoover’s It Ends with Us and loved it. I might try that one next!

Book Review- Jen Mann's Midlife Bites: Anyone Else Falling Apart, of is it Just Me?

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a copy of Jen Mann’s Midlife Bites: Anyone Else Falling Apart, of is it Just Me?.

Bestselling humorist Jen Mann tackles the unique challenges that middle-aged women face, including relationship issues, body changes, and personal fulfillment. She considers the differences in which women face middle-age, as compared with men, and if women have their own form of a mid-life crisis.

I’ve been a long-time fan of Mann’s writing. She has a wicked sense of humor and a style of writing that makes me feel like I’m hearing stories over coffee with my best friend. She’s relatable and likable. I would read anything she writes, but I appreciate that she tackled an issue that I am beginning to face: middle-age. I turn forty-five in a few weeks, and although I have not faced some of the challenges that Mann mentions, I didn’t even realize some of the potential issues ( weird body hair???), I read Midlife Bites as a guide for what may come in the future.

In particular, I liked Mann’s thoughts on why middle-aged women should start, and many do, to care less about what other people think. That there is a freedom when you realize that people are too consumed by their own issues to care about yours, and if they do spend time focused on you in a negative way, that has nothing to do with you and is only their loss. Middle-aged women, often “sandwiched” between caring for children and elderly parents, have so much on their plates that letting go of worrying what others think is a huge weight lifted. I appreciated Mann’s candor with regard to parenting and her marriage. There is plenty of humor in Midlife Bites, but overall, this book is far more serious and deep in context than her other works.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the title, a riff on the 90’s film, Reality Bites, and as Mann mentions, purposefully chosen to attract her Gen-X cohorts. Mann also has a Facebook group based on ideas in her book, a place where other middle-aged women can ask questions, share thoughts, and ideas. I love the sisterhood vibe that Mann has created through Midlife Bites.

Book Review- Riley Sager's The House Across the Lake

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a copy of Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake.

Famed actress Casey Fletcher is an alcoholic, who recently lost her husband in a tragic accident. Her trauma from the loss, along with the drinking, caused her to lose a steady acting job, prompting her family to exile her to the family lake house in a bid to get her to “dry-out” and consider her future. This house has been in Casey’s family for generations and it happens to be on the lake where her husband drowned months earlier. Having no intentions of quitting alcohol, Casey enlists a long-time neighbor to keep her supplied and to keep his mouth shut.

As Casey drinks away her days, she uses binoculars to spy on the new neighbors across the lake; a tech tycoon and his wife, a glamorous mode named Katherine. When Katherine blacks-out during a swim on the lake, Casey saves her, and she begins to suspect that Katherine is involved in an abusive relationship. The more Casey spies on her neighbors, the more her suspicions grow.

This was my first novel by Riley Sager, an author that I had long been interested in reading. I’ve found Sager’s books shelved in the mystery section of bookstores, but this one blends genres, including suspense, horror, and mystery. If pressed, I would shelve it in horror. It’s a mix of Hitchcock’s Rear Window and Blatty’s The Exorcist. Casey’s alcoholism and role of unreliable narrator are reminiscent of the protagonist in Paula Hawkin’s novel, The Girl on the Train. The mix of genres work,, especially in concert with Sager’s quick pacing and atmospheric setting. The House Across the Lake is unsettling and creepy, the type of suspense where you are cringing when the protagonist decides to open the wrong door or enter a dark basement. It’s a visceral reading experience.

I enjoyed The House Across the Lake and look forward to reading Sager’s previous works.