Mini Reviews

I started this book before we went on vacation but quickly finished it on the 2-hour flight to our destination. This has everything a summer read should be: fun, sentimental with a big heart. Both Kai and Esme are endearing characters who need each other more than they know. I giggled and tear-eyed up during this book. If you haven't read it, you should. I can't wait to read her first one, The Kiss Quotient. 

I've been a fan of Jane Green's since I was in my 20s and it was nice to have her characters in her new book to be in my age range. We see the friendship between the three of them through the eyes of each of them throughout the years. We see how each of their decisions has a ripple effect on their friendships and strains them in ways they weren't even conscious of. I did feel that she fell into some women's fiction pitfalls with this one but it was still worth the read.

Like Jane Green above, I've been reading Jennifer Weiner for years. She never fails to disappoint me in her fresh view on what some might say are constant women's fiction story-lines. She tells the story of Bethie and Jo through decades of change and frustration for women. While this might not be my favorite of her novels, it is definitely still well worth the read.

Julie's Review: The Sunshine Sisters

Author: Jane Green
Series: None
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
Publisher: Berkeley
Pages: 384
Obtained: Publisher via First to Read
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: No one does family drama like Jane Green
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Summary: Ronni Sunshine left London for Hollywood to become a beautiful, charismatic star of the silver screen. But at home, she was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters. As soon as possible, tomboy Nell fled her mother’s overbearing presence to work on a farm and find her own way in the world as a single mother. The target of her mother’s criticism, Meredith never felt good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Her life took her to London—and into the arms of a man whom she may not even love. And Lizzy, the youngest, more like Ronni than any of them, seemed to have it easy, using her drive and ambition to build a culinary career to rival her mother’s fame, while her marriage crumbled around her. But now the Sunshine sisters are together again, called home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes. And though Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy have never been close, their mother’s illness draws them together to confront the old jealousies and secret fears that have threatened to tear these sisters apart. As they face the loss of their mother, they will discover if blood might be thicker than water after all. ~amazon.com  

Review: I haven't missed a Jane Green book since she started publishing them and The Sunshine Sisters  is what I expect from her; perfect blend of drama and humor. Ronni Sunshine isn't very likable and was a horrible mother. She was/is self-absorbed and rude. She, at least on her deathbed, recognizes what an ass she was to her girls. All of them have been effected in different ways but mostly they have moved on, until she summons them all home. The novel isn't so much about Ronni Sunshine as it is about the destruction she leaves in her wake.

Nell, the oldest, took the brunt of the moods while trying to shield Meredith and Lizzy from them. You can only shield them so much. Meredith was the sensitive one and didn't know how to back away from her mother when she was in her moods. Lizzy is the baby and pretty much got away with whatever she wanted. What Ronni did was not only alienate them from her but she alienated them from each other.

 

For years they lived separate lives, only calling when necessary. They were never there for each other and drifted apart. Meredith is getting married and none of her family is invited. Nell lives 20 minutes away from her mom running a farm and never sees her. Meredith took off for London and hasn't looked back. Lizzy has crafted a successful business of her own in NYC. 

I enjoyed learning about all the sisters and their lives as adults. I found Meredith's story to be the one that I thought was probably the most real. She's the one that struggles from all the emotional abuse that her mother dosed out. She's the one that questions her decisions and then settles for a career and man who aren't worthy of her. Nell is the one who built a wall up around herself but I'm not so sure it has so much to do with Ronni as it does with having a child young and having the father walk out on you. Lizzy, well she's the entertaining one in the family. She's always needed to be the center of attention and now she has all the attention she wants from her career. She's not happy though and her priorities are messed up. Maybe being around her sisters can bring her back to reality. 

Jane always crafts a great story that is accessible and grounded in great characters. The Sunshine Sisters joins that history. The Sunshine Sisters  is about finding your way home and accepting who you are all the good bad and ugly of it.

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Julie's Review: Falling

Author: Jane Green
Series: None
Publication Date: July 19, 2016
Publisher: Berkley/NAL
Pages: 384
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre:  Women's Fiction
Rating: 4.75/5
Bottom Line: Classic Jane Green in the best way
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Summary:
When Emma Montague left the strict confines of upper-crust British life for New York, she felt sure it would make her happy. Away from her parents and expectations, she felt liberated, throwing herself into Manhattan life replete with a high-paying job, a gorgeous apartment, and a string of successful boyfriends. But the cutthroat world of finance and relentless pursuit of more began to take its toll. This wasn’t the life she wanted either.  On the move again, Emma settles in the picturesque waterfront town of Westport, Connecticut, a world apart from both England and Manhattan. It is here that she begins to confront what it is she really wants from her life. With no job, and knowing only one person in town, she channels her passion for creating beautiful spaces into remaking the dilapidated cottage she rents from Dominic, a local handyman who lives next door with his six-year-old son.  Unlike any man Emma has ever known, Dominic is confident, grounded, and committed to being present for his son whose mother fled shortly after he was born. They become friends, and slowly much more, as Emma finds herself feeling at home in a way she never has before.  But just as they start to imagine a life together as a family, fate intervenes in the most shocking of ways. For the first time, Emma has to stay and fight for what she loves, for the truth she has discovered about herself, or risk losing it all.  In a novel of changing seasons, shifting lives, and selfless love, a story unfolds—of one woman’s far-reaching journey to discover who she is truly meant to be. ~amazon.com

Review: Falling is exactly what I would expect out of a Jane Green novel and I couldn't be happier. I've read Jane for years and has seen how her writing and subject matters have grown. Her latest is about a woman, Emma, who gives up the city life and the big banking job for a more subdued life in Westport, CT. Since she's unsure of where she's really going to end up, she decides to just rent a lovely beach house for a year; see where life takes her. It is renting this beach house and meeting the handsome landlord, Dominic, that sets her life in motion.

It is a slow, easy going romance. In fact, it develops overtime instead of being an instant relationship, which I appreciated. Emma was so determined that Dominic wasn't her type, that she kept pushing him into the friend-zone, until neither of them could deny it any longer. Of course there are hiccups and bumps along the way but they are things I would expect in real life. Those daily things that every relationship needs to work through, until of course, the worst thing happens.

I'm surprised I didn't cry because usually the circumstances in this novel would have but I knew that Emma was a strong enough woman that she would be ok. She would make sure that those she loved were cared for and would be ok. I wasn't sure how she would keep living in Westport but she did because after all she made it her home.

Besides Emma and Dominic there are great secondary characters in the novel that make for a well-rounded cast. They support and encourage both of them and are there when they are needed.

I would LOVE to see this as a movie. In fact, it would make my day. I'm surprised that one of her novels isn't a movie! So Hollywood, listen up and get to moving on that, would ya!!

If you are looking for some solid story telling with a couple to root for, then pick up Falling.


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Julie's Review: Summer Secrets

Author: Jane Green
Series: None
Publication Date: June 23, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 320
Obtained: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Rating: 3.75/5.0
Bottom Line: Perfect vacation/pool/beach book
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Summary: When a shocking family secret is revealed, twenty-something journalist Cat Coombs finds herself falling into a dark spiral. Wild, glamorous nights out in London and raging hangovers the next day become her norm, leading to a terrible mistake one night while visiting family in America, on the island of Nantucket. It's a mistake for which she can't forgive herself. When she returns home, she confronts the unavoidable reality of her life and knows it's time to grow up. But she doesn't know if she'll ever be able to earn the forgiveness of the people she hurt. As the years pass, Cat grows into her forties, a struggling single mother, coping with a new-found sobriety and determined to finally make amends. Traveling back to her past, to the family she left behind on Nantucket all those years ago, she may be able to earn their forgiveness, but in doing so she may risk losing the very people she loves the most. Told with Jane Green's keen eye for detailing the emotional landscape of the heart, Summer Secrets is at once a compelling drama and a beautifully rendered portrait of relationships, betrayals, and forgiveness; about accepting the things we cannot change, finding the courage to change the things we can, and being strong enough to weather the storms. ~amazon.com  

Review: Summer Secrets is the story of starts, stops and re-starts. It is the story of a woman trying to learn to forgive herself while seeking the forgiveness of others. Cat is a woman who has been an alcoholic most of her adult life and is trying to stay sober for the last 18 months. She's lost her daughter and husband because of her drinking plus the relationship with other family members.

Summer Secrets is told in flashbacks and then the present. While I found that this works for most novels, it left me somewhat confused in the beginning. Not only do we get Cat's flashback to her summer in Nantucket but then we get her mom's flashback to even a further time back to when she met Cat's father. I think that's what I found confusing was that her mom's story didn't add to the flow of the book.

 While I liked Cat I wouldn't say that I could relate to her. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I felt badly for what she had been through and I wanted her to get better, live her life and enjoy her daughter. I wanted her to be able to make amends to those that she has wronged in her past so that she could move on.

I loved how Ms. Green described Nantucket. She almost makes me want to go there if nothing else just for watching the rich and famous. I loved Cat's best friend, Sam. He was a breath of fresh air in otherwise a pretty heavy subject matter.

I wouldn't say this was my favorite Jane Green novel but as always I'm happy to have read it. It really is a great summer book for the beach, pool or car ride.



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Julie's Review: Saving Grace

Author: Jane Green
Series: None
Publication Date: December 30, 2014
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 352
Obtained: Vine
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, women's Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Another solid Jane Green novel with the focus on mental illness
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Summary: Grace and Ted Chapman are widely regarded as the perfect literary power couple. Ted is a successful novelist and Grace, his wife of twenty years, is beautiful, stylish, carefree, and a wonderful homemaker. But what no one sees, what is churning under the surface, is Ted’s rages. His mood swings. And the precarious house of cards that their lifestyle is built upon. When Ted’s longtime assistant and mainstay leaves, the house of cards begins to crumble and Grace, with dark secrets in her past, is most vulnerable. She finds herself in need of help but with no one to turn to…until the perfect new assistant shows up out of the blue. To the rescue comes Beth, a competent young woman who can handle Ted and has the calm efficiency to weather the storms that threaten to engulf the Chapman household. Soon, though, it’s clear to Grace that Beth might be too good to be true. This new interloper might be the biggest threat of all, one that could cost Grace her marriage, her reputation, and even her sanity. With everything at stake and no one to confide in, Grace must find a way to save herself before it is too late. Powerful and riveting, Saving Grace will have you on the edge of your seat as you follow Grace on her harrowing journey to rock bottom and back. ~amazon.com

Review: Here is where I say that we never know what goes on behind doors. Grace and Ted seem like the perfect couple. She's a wonderful wife and keeps things running so her very famous author husband can spend his days working on the next great novel. Saving Grace is a novel about what happens behind closed doors, how trying to figure out the next steps in your life aren't sure of what path to travel on.

As with all of Ms. Green's heroines, Grace is easy to like. She's pretty close to perfect but her life is anything but that. Her husband is a bit of an egotistical manic and not the easiest man to live with at all. Does he love Grace? I think he does but he's so used to how she runs their life, I'm not sure he'd know what to do without her. I don't think that counts as love but as dependence. Grace has her own fears which stem from her childhood.

Ted needs a new assistant since the one that has been with him for 20 years is leaving to take care of her ailing mother. So when Beth enters their lives at just the right time, Beth thanks her lucky stars. Almost immediately, Grace gets an uneasy feeling around her but pushes it aside because Beth has become instrumental in making their lives run easy.

Slowly Beth begins to metamorphose in front of Grace, just as her life begins to spin out of control. The question becomes is Grace truly going crazy or is she just going through some changes?

It isn't too hard as a reader to see where this one is going. As always Ms. Green has written the journey to be interesting even if you figure out part of the plot. Grace's plight is one that many women will be able to identify with. What happens when your body and your mind betray you? When you start to feel so not like yourself but you have no idea how to fix it? These are all very powerful questions.

I found the ending to be exactly what I wanted but with a nice little twist. Saving Grace is another Jane Green classic.
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Julie's Review: Tempting Fate

Author: Jane Green
Series: None
Publication Date: March 25, 2014
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 352
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  Contemporary, Women's Fiction
Rating: 5
Bottom Line: Honest and heartbreaking portrayal of modern marriage
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Summary: From Jane Green, the New York Times bestselling author of such beloved novels as Jemima J, The Beach House, Another Piece of My Heart, comes an enthralling and emotional story about how much we really understand the temptations that can threaten even the most idyllic of relationships….Gabby and Elliott have been happily married for eighteen years. They have two teenaged daughters. They have built a life together. Forty-three year old Gabby is the last person to have an affair. She can't relate to the way her friends desperately try to cling to the beauty and allure of their younger years…And yet, she too knows her youth is quickly slipping away. She could never imagine how good it would feel to have a handsome younger man show interest in her—until the night it happens. Matt makes Gabby feel sparkling, fascinating, alive;something she hasn't felt in years. What begins as a long-distance friendship soon develops into an emotional affair as Gabby discovers her limits and boundaries are not where she expects them to be. Intoxicated, Gabby has no choice but to step ever deeper into the allure of attraction and attention, never foreseeing the life-changing consequences that lie ahead. If she makes one wrong move she could lose everything;and find out what really matters most.A heartfelt and complex story, Tempting Fate will have readers gripped until they reach the very last page, and thinking about the characters long after they put the book down. ~powells.com

Review: I've been reading Jane Green for at least 10-12 years now and saying this is her best yet, says something. Tempting Fate is a simple story at it's core but it's always complex when you are dealing with a marriage. How far are you willing to go to resurrect your self-esteem? What happens when you look for validation of your worth outside of your marriage? These are the things that Gabby confronts when she meets the gorgeous, intelligent and younger Matt during a girls night out. What begins as an innocent flirtation, quickly goes further.

This book isn't about having an affair or the affair itself. It's about the after shocks of that act. How an impulse, a carnal desire can change everything immediately. A few minutes for a lifetime of regret and irreversible consequences. Do I agree with Gabby and her actions? No! Do I understand how Gabby might have felt? Absolutely. It wasn't until his wife started to get the attention of another man that Elliott started to notice her a bit more. It wasn't that he wasn't attentive, he was but we all get stuck in ruts. Elliott's was not noticing his wife. Gabby's was getting too comfortable in comfortable clothing. It wasn't that she let herself go, it was that she never did herself up. She was always competing with the other moms/wives in the neighborhood. Her self-esteem was suffering because of all this comparison.

What I love about Jane Green is that she doesn't mince words or actions. She is brutally honest in the details of how Gabby's world comes crashing down upon her. Ms. Green examines suburban living with a microscope and she understands it. On some level all of us play the "Keeping up with the Jones'" game in our life. Even if it's Mrs. Jones you are trying to keep up with.

Did Gabby get on my nerves at times? Yes, but in a way that your best friend or sister would if she were going through the same things. You want to counsel her but you know she's not at the right place to truly listen.

There is one part towards the end of the book where Gabby and her friend Claire meet for coffee and they are talking about their friendship and I thought what Gabby said to her was beautifully written and completely honest. Gabby needed to say those words to Claire if their friendship was going to heal.

If you've never read Jane Green, then Tempting Fate is a wonderful place to start. If you have, then you are in for her best work yet.


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Julie's Review: Family Pictures

Summary:  From the author of Another Piece of My Heart comes Family Pictures, the gripping story of two women who live on opposite coasts but whose lives are connected in ways they never could have imagined.  Both women are wives and mothers to children who are about to leave the nest for school.  They're both in their forties and have husbands who travel more than either of them would like.  They are both feeling an emptiness neither had expected.  But when a shocking secret is exposed, their lives are blown apart.  As dark truths from the past reveal themselves, will these two women be able to learn to forgive, for the sake of their children, if not for themselves? ~amazon.com

Review: I love Jane Green's books. It's like cuddling up and talking to a good friend. Her books always tackle important issues and never fail to make them not look all pretty. Her books typically do end nicely tied up but not in a way that isn't realistic. Most of her characters fight for their happiness and do get it in the end.

Family Pictures is no different. All the women in the novel, Sylvie, Eve, Maggie and Grace all have to fight for the life they want in the end. Each of them has a different path and some are more self-destructive than others but they are not easy.

I pretty much knew the storyline that Ms. Green was going with but that didn't make it less compelling. What makes it compelling are the women and their resilience.

As we are introduced to Sylvie first and it seems her story is the majority of the book, I understood her better than I did Maggie. That doesn't mean I didn't sympathize with her but she wasn't the easiest character to like initially. That being said she had the most changing to do and she did do it.

Ms. Green tackles both eating disorders and drinking in this novel as well. Neither is easy to read about but I was more disturbed by the eating disorders. She does a magnificent job of going into how very destructive they are and the long term effects on the body.

While the outcome might not be surprising, Family Pictures, is well worth the journey.

Final Take: 4.25/5

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this novel.

Julie's Review: Another Piece of My Heart

Summary: Andi has spent much of her adult life looking for the perfect man, and at thirty-seven, she's finally found him.  Ethan--divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia--is a devoted father and even better husband.  Always hoping one day she would be a mother, Andi embraces the girls like they were her own. But in Emily’s eyes, Andi is an obstacle to her father’s love, and Emily will do whatever it takes to break her down. When the dynamics between the two escalate, they threaten everything Andi believes about love, family, and motherhood—leaving both women standing at a crossroad in their lives…and in their hearts. ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART is a novel that illuminates the nuances and truths about relationships and is Jane Green at her absolute best. ~amazon.com

Review: I am so excited that Jane Green has another book out! I've read her for a long time and while the last couple haven't been excellent, I still always enjoy her novels. I knew that Another Piece of My Heart sounded a bit different from her other books but still dealing with family issues. Like Promises to Keep this deals with some pretty tough subject matters.

Being in a blended family myself, it's never easy but my dad got remarried when I was in my 20s, so my step-mom didn't have to deal with the teenager angst from either of us. These situations are becoming more the norm than the exception, so I think Ms. Green is extremely timely with her novel. I also know that she and her husband combined families so perhaps part of this subject is very familiar to her but maybe without the drama.
I liked Andi overall. She's by no means perfect but she tries. She tries her hardest with her step-daughter Emily who is so full of rage and hatred towards her. Emily views Andi as competition instead of an ally. She thinks that Andi took her father away from her and that he loves her less. Never mind that Emily doesn't get any love from her drunk mother. Maybe part of Emily's anger should have been directed towards Janice instead of Andi but I never got the sense that she hated her mom.

I don't think Andi ever hated Emily but I think she was extremely hurt by her anger. She didn't know when she would be nice and when she was going to be evil. Trust me, Emily was all kinds of evil. I understood why Andi was fed up. She was fed up because she never felt that Ethan stuck up for her or that he disciplined his daughter. Ethan was too worried about making Emily happy than giving her boundaries.

While I enjoyed the chapters written from Emily's point of view, I still wasn't convinced that she changed. Sure three years seems like a long time to be away but when you are as immature as Emily was, it's not that long. She never really dealt with her feelings for Andi and her resentment towards her father. Frankly, I believe she should have had therapy. Emily might have gotten some parts of her life on track but she was still emotionally unstable. It's not until 3 years after she returns home and leaves again that I finally felt she was grown up, that she had resolved her issues with her family.

I really enjoyed the part of the novel where Janice helps Emily come to an emotional breakthrough regarding her situation. It was refreshing to see Janice step up and be a mother especially when it counted. When Emily needed some one to say some hard things to her but yet could do so in a caring manner.

I enjoyed how Ms. Green jumped ahead in her novel by a few years at a couple points in the novel. It made me feel that the characters were stuck in time and in circumstances they couldn't over come. Now, while I enjoyed the ending of the novel, I did feel that it was a little too neatly tied up. Maybe time and love really does heal all wounds. Maybe I'm just cynical.

For those of you who have read Jane Green previously but have stepped away from her Another Piece of My Heart is the novel to get reacquainted with her.

Final Take: 4.25/5

Julie's Review: Promises To Keep

Summary: Callie Perry is a happily married photographer with two wonderful kids, a lovable sister, Steffi, and a best friend, Lila. Problems are minor: Steffi can never settle down, Lila has finally found love but the guy has a nightmare of an ex, and Callie and Steffi's divorced parents haven't spoken in 30 years. But then Callie, a breast cancer survivor, is diagnosed with a rare and incurable complication of the disease. Suddenly realizing that she has only months to live, she begins the painful process of saying good-bye. While the subject matter is intense and personal, it's far from depressing; the characters are warm, funny and realistic. Green (The Beach House) manages to create an authentic tale of a woman who truly loves her life and family and is trying to do the right thing for them before she dies. While Green breaks up her chapters with recipes (presumably because Steffi is a cook), this peculiar modern conceit in women's literature feels like a misstep. Overall, Green once again delivers an enjoyable emotional story. ~amazon.com

Review: Well people, Jane Green has knocked this one out of the park. I always find her books delightful, light read and while Promises to Keepis delightful and wonderful, it is anything but light. I think in part because writing this book for Jane was personal and also because it deals with a pretty heavy subject.

We are first introduced to Steffi and immediately I like her,even if she is a bit of a lost soul. It seems like she's finally taking charge of her life and well we don't even know alot about that life. She's a vegan chef who is head chef at a successful NYC restaurant. Through the book she makes positive changes in her life that bring her out of NYC and into the countryside. This provide Steffi a way to start her own business and become successful at it. It also removes her from the lifestyle she was used to living...rock star's girlfriend.

We then meet her sister Callie and while I liked Callie, I thought she was almost a bit too perfect. Let me say this, it made feel utterly inadequate as a mother and wife. She had no problem with her husband travelling and her being left to run her business and raise the kids. She was used to is and didn't mind it. This just rang a bit false to me but maybe that's because at my kids ages (5 and 2.5) I need my husband around or I'll go crazy. Also, the relationship with her huband Reece seemed to good to be true as well. They were even more in love than when they first got married? Really? What's the secret? :) Don't get me wrong I adore and love mine but life is so different than when we first got married, I don't have time to think if I love him more or less. I just love him. This is the part of the book that bothered me because if you are young and impressionable then this is what you think marriage is and well it isn't. Do we all hope/wish for this yes? Does it occur? I'm sure but it's not prevelant.

Lila, Callie's best friend is a major part of the book as well. I really liked Lila, a lot. She was real, down to earth and a strong, independent soul. She has finally found the love of her life at 42 and is now ready to go to the next step. She sticks with Callie through thick and thin and is there for her as she battles the disease. She's a wonderful "aunt" to Eliza and Jack.

The book is truly about family and friendships, about hard times and rallying around each other to get through them. It's about coming together to support those you love the most and need you the most. It's about finding out that Love really is a verb.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great Labor Day read. You'll breeze through it and find yourself crying and laughing.

Swapping Lives and The Other Woman will always be two of my favorite from her. I will keep by her books because I know when I sit down to read them, in the end I will be satisfied.

Final Take: 4.25/5

Julie's Review: Dune Road

Summary: Dune Road is another fun and fearless adventure that will take Green's many fans from laughter to tears and back again. The novel is set in the beach community of a tony Connecticut town. Our heroine is a single mom who works for a famous-and famously reclusive-novelist. When she stumbles on a secret that the great man has kept hidden for years, she knows that there are plenty of women in town who would love to get their hands on it-including some who fancy the writer for themselves. Dune Road is the story of life in an exclusive beach town after the tourists have left for the summer and the eccentric (and moneyed) community sticks around. Dune Road will surely be the book to pack in beach bags next summer. ~amazon.com

Review: I have to give Ms. Green a hand because a lot of the subject matters in Dune Road are very timely, like the world financial market crash. I'm sure some last minute editing took place there but it was very skillful. Like all of her books I found the protagonist very likable as were most of the main characters in the book. Kit is a divorce who is trying to find her way in this new world. She's got a great house, a decent relationship with her ex, 2 pretty good kids but she's not sure who she is after 20 years of marriage. She ends up getting a job with the recluse author, Robert McClore. I actually thought this book was going to be more about him than it ended up being. I would have actually like a little more mystery/intrigue into his background than we received. I actually don't think that the summary is quite accurate on amazon.com for what this book is really about. Perhaps it was before some last minute changes.

There are definitely a few twists and turns that I didn't see coming, maybe I should have but with these books I'm not looking for earth-shattering reveals.

What Jane Green does splendidly is describe everything. I could envision Kit's house as well as everything else in Highfield. She always brings all of her locations to life in her books.

I definitely liked it more than The Beach House, which I think has been her weakest novel yet.

If you are looking for a great, curl up and read it in a couple of sittings book, Dune Road fits that criteria. Plus it makes you feel good as well.

Final Take: 3.75/5

Julie's Review: Second Chance

Summary: Green, author of chick-lit favorites Swapping Lives (2006) and The Other Woman (2005), explores the way one man's death affects the lives of his friends. Tom Fitzgerald, a Brit living in the States, is only 39 when he kisses his wife and children good-bye and boards a doomed train. In the wake of his death, his friends, some of whom haven't seen in each other in nearly two decades, come together to remember him. Despite one night of passion, Holly and Tom remained best friends, and she thinks she is content with her picture-perfect life despite a lack of love for her husband until she reconnects with Tom's charismatic, introspective younger brother. Olivia takes a chance on a man Tom set her up with shortly before he died. An actress in L.A., Saffron has fallen in love with one of Hollywood's sexiest stars, but she is growing tired of waiting for him to leave his loveless marriage. Paul and Anna couldn't love each other more, but her inability to conceive a child mars their happy marriage. Peopled with her trademark likable, sympathetic characters, Green's latest is sure to have wide appeal. ~Booklist

Review: I think that I've read almost all of Jane Green's books and have enjoyed everyone of them for various reasons. Second Chance isn't her best in my opinion but still a pretty decent read. I found that I did like all of the four main characters but I found it a little farfetched that they would resume deep, meaningful friendships after 20 years of sporadic contact. On the flip side of that I find that to be refreshing that they could resume their friendships even after a long lapse in time. Nothing like a tragedy to bring people together unfortunately and to cause them to examine their own lives. I found Saffron to be a sterotypical Hollywood actress and found some of the plot about Hollywood to be cliche. My favorite transformation of the group was Holly. From being someone she's not to coming into her own and realizing who she is. I did think throughout the book that her husband was cheating on her but it turns out he was just a jerk.

If you haven't read Jane Green before I recommend either The Other Woman or To Have and To Hold: A Novel before I'd tell you to read Second Chances. The book was a good read but it didn't stir any deep emotions in me and while I liked Holly I just wanted her to wake up at some points. The rest of the characters were good but 2 dimensional.

Final Take: 3.75/5

Lisa's Review: Second Chance

Summary: From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Green (Swapping Lives, The Other Woman) injects a topical note into an otherwise paint-by-numbers work. After a terrorist attack on an Amtrak train kills 39-year-old Tom, his death serves as the catalyst for changes in the lives of four estranged schoolmates he left behind in England. Reuniting at Tom's memorial service are Holly, a former free spirit uncomfortably forced into becoming a suburban matron by her workaholic, social-climbing husband; Olivia, a lonely director of an animal shelter; Paul, a writer whose blissful marriage with his fashionable wife is marred by their inability to conceive; and Saffron, a recovering alcoholic actress secretly involved with a married Hollywood megastar. Tom's death reignites their friendship, causes them to reevaluate their lives and sends them marching toward a concluding warm fuzzy. Green's writing is competent, though her characters feel more like embodiments of their problems than actual people. There are few surprises, but the fairy tale ending should appease Green's many fans.

Review:
Jane Green always delivers. Always. My lack of enthusiasm for this her 9th novel stems only from the fact that I was unable to fully relate to the characters and their individual crises. Dealing with unexpected death by terrorism, divorce, inability to conceive, unwanted pregnancy and alcoholism is serious business and all things that I, at the tender age of 29, have been fortunate (or unfortunate?) not to have yet experienced. I fully appreciated the themes of friendship and the idea of getting a second chance to do over parts of your life. I believe we can relate.

The characters are well established, as always, and Jane's trademark wit is present. I love the way she writes as if she's sitting across from you in a coffee shop telling you a story. Unfamiliar themes or not, it's easy to get lost in the story that she tells and root for the four friends to find their happy endings.

Final Take: 3.75/5