The Quirky Bookworm

I hope you enjoy!

Title: The Getaway Cabin
Series: Blue Ridge Mountains (6 Books)
Author: Sage Parker
Publisher: Kindle Publishing
Format: eBook

The Blue Ridge Mountain series is perfect for light, clean, contemporary romance reading. Each book takes about an hour to read, so it’s great for people with a full schedule or who don’t particularly enjoy long novels.

Val Hutchins retreats to the small town of Banner Elk after her husband’s betrayal. Her sister, Becky, helps restore their family’s summer cabin. Val reconnects with her childhood sweetheart that she hasn’t seen in over 30 years and discovers answers to a family secret.

I found the storyline for the parents a little farfetched, but it didn’t bother me enough to not keep reading. I would read another series by Sage Parker. I found her series through my Kindle Unlimited subscription. Readers can search “clean and wholesome romance” on the Amazon website to find authors similar to Parker.
Click here for more information about the series and click here to visit the author’s website. Parker is currently rated #1 on Amazon for clean romances.

Title: The Unquiet Bones
Author: Loreth Anne White
Publisher: Montlake
Publication Date: March 2024
Page Length: 351

The Unquiet Bones is difficult to stop reading once begun. Loreth Anne White is a journalist turned novelist and has won several awards for her writing. Her character development and storyline for The Unquiet Bones is similar to Karin Slaughter’s style, so if you’re a fan of hers you will enjoy White’s thrillers.

Homicide detective Jane Munro is asked to solve a decades cold case. A teenage girl goes missing late one night while walking home after a high school party nearly 50 years ago. Her body has been recently discovered underneath a secluded chapel in the woods. Her high school friends, long since divided since that one tragic night, must finally face the consequences of their deceit.

The Unquiet Bones is a Library Journal Mystery Pick of the Month, Amazon’s Editor Choice for Mystery and Thrillers and a Goodreads Most Anticipated Thriller for 2024. Visit the author’s website for more books and information by clicking here.

Title: Apples Never Fall
Author: Liane Moriarty
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: August 2021
Page Length: 467

Apples Never Fall pales in comparison to Big Little Lies and The Husband’s Secret. There wasn’t much suspense so it seemed the story was dragging at times. If you’ve never read Liane Moriarty, I wouldn’t recommend beginning with Apples Never Fall. It’s not a true reflection of her talent as a writer.

Apples Never Fall was written during COVID and published in 2021, so I’m wondering if that impacted Moriarty’s decision for writing that is similar to Anne Tyler.

Stan and Joy own a tennis academy and are obsessed with finding and training the next Wimbledon star. Their four young children never feel they live up to the expectation, especially in comparison to their father’s star student. What follows is a life of domestic bliss turned domestic nightmare when a mysterious young woman turns up on their doorstep late one night claiming she’s a victim of domestic violence. She becomes a permanent resident, much to the concern of their now grown children. The Delaney children have no idea who she is, but know she’s up to no good and are determined to find out what she’s really wanting before it’s too late to save their parent’s marriage.
Apples Never Fall is a #1 New York Times Bestseller, an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Mystery and Thriller, and is now a limited series streaming on the Peacock app, starring Annette Bening as Joy Delaney.

Visit the author’s website at lianemoriarty.com.au/.
An author interview hosted by the Today show is available here.

Title: Winter Garden
Author: Kristin Hannah
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: February 2010
Page Legnth: 394

Winter Garden is a beautifully captivating novel about family. I recommend Winter Garden for readers that enjoyed Hannah’s 2015 novel, The Nightingale.

The Whitson family own a prestigious apple orchard in Washington. Meredith stayed home to manage the business, while her sister, Nina, left to travel the world as an acclaimed photo journalist. Nina returns home for a season to assist Meredith with taking care of their ailing parents. After their father’s passing, the two sisters must find a way to care for their distant mother, Anya. Their father’s one wish is that they would listen to their mother’s tragic story, set in Leningrad during World War II, so their relationships may heal.

Winter Garden is a Goodreads 2010 Reader’s Choice for Fiction. An essay written by the author about researching the novel is available at https://kristinhannah.com/books/winter-garden/behind-the-book/.