I’m really on a roll now – reading book after fabulous book of women’s fiction. For this month’s book review, I’m sharing my thoughts on Little Black Dress by Susan McBride.

The interesting thing about some of these books, including this one, is that I won them in contests or they were given to me. Kinda tells me I don’t even know what books I may love until I read them – lol!

I first heard of Susan McBride through The Stiletto Gang blog – just the name of that appeals to me. And then there was her previous novel The Cougar Club. Now that got my attention, but I didn’t read it because I knew I wanted to write a Cougar story at some point. (I ended up writing Cougars in Cabo, which was published in the A Shaker of Margaritas: Cougars on the Prowl anthology.)

But back to Little Black Dress – oh my goodness – I’m not really a big fan of books in the paranormal category, but this book is definitely my kind of paranormal. Here’s what the blurb says:

Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future.

Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts… and mend them.

I totally immersed myself in this book – one of those books that was so well-written and I really admired the author’s talent. But, then, I love stories with secrets from the past – you’ll always find those in my books. She wove the tale exceptionally well, although I did see some of what was coming – I’m not sure if that was intentional or not – but the ending didn’t exactly go the way I’d hoped, but that’s just my personal preference. I have a feeling the author and I see life a bit differently because the theme running through her books veers off in a different direction than the theme in my books. But isn’t that what makes it so interesting about writers – you can imagine a similar story but tell it totally differently.

Now I’m hooked on books by Susan McBride. I’m going to have to go back and read The Cougar Club, and I’m looking forward to her next book, Little White Lies. For more information about Susan McBride and her books, see her web site.

For more book reviews in this month’s The Book Review Club, click on the icon below.

When journalist and writer friend Lynn Voedisch asked me to review her second novel, The God’s Wife, I happily accepted because I believe in helping out my writer friends. But, to be honest, I have to say this is not the type of book I would normally pick up and read. I’m into history, but not necessarily this time period. But sometimes it’s good to step out of the norm or comfort zone every now and then, because when I do, I often discover something really valuable – like this book! So before I add my comments, let me share the blurb found on the back cover.

Sixteen-year-old Neferet has been thrust into the role of God’s Wife by her bossy mother, the Pharaoh’s wife. Unprepared for such a high office, Neferet is not skilled in the diplomacy the job needs, nor does she know anything about “pleasing” the god’s icon. Political vipers assail her head on and sexual approaches surround her.

In the 21st century, a young dancer stretches to create the perfect shapes that recall the mood of ancient Egypt. Rebecca Kiri, chosen to play a woman in a dance production of Aida, is so immersed in her role that she often falls into trances, smelling the breeze off the Nile, feeling the desert sun on her cheeks, hearing the call of priests at Karnak temple. It isn’t long before she begins to sense that in these trances she’s communicating with an Egyptian woman from the distant past.

As their worlds, separated by thousands of years, begin to grow together, Neferet starts to see Rebecca’s face in the dark of night. When someone evil begins to plot against her reign as God’s Wife, she draws on Rebecca’s strength. Rebecca, in turn, hears Neferet’s voice and sees her eyes in a theater mirror when her own world is at risk of falling apart.

If the book had been totally set in ancient Egypt, I doubt I would have embraced it. And while I don’t often seek out paranormal, I do love time travel paranormal. And the idea of two worlds colliding is fascinating to me. Lynn does a fabulous job of pulling this off, with vivid, strong writing that takes you away from daily life and pulls you into an alternate world you can comprehend. I could so see this as a movie. So for something totally different, I recommend this book.

I’ve been on a roll reading books that I just can’t put down. First, I read two by Megan Chance (the first in a previous book review) and now Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry, her debut novel. All I can say is “Wow! What a debut novel!”

This is the kind of book I wish I could write but could never write – it is not my writing style. But that is such a gift for a writer, to find that book that is so wonderful and takes you completely out of your regular writing routine. And something about it made me think of the movie “Obsession.”

Here’s a sneak peek from the front blurb:

“If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. But I didn’t. And I saw something fall from the rear deck of the opposite ferry: a small, wide-eyed human face, in one tiny frozen moment, as it plummeted toward the water.”

The description on amazon.com says:

When Troy Chance spots what she thinks is a small boy being tossed off the back of a passing ferry, she instinctively jumps into the icy waters of Lake Champlain. She rescues the youngster and discovers that his arms were bound with an adult sweatshirt. He’s incredibly frightened, speaks only French, and won’t tell her what happened. Troy determines that she will keep him safe rather than turn him over to the police. When he finally begins to confide in her, he tells a bizarre tale of being kidnapped, hearing his mother murdered by gunshot, and then being held for months. As Troy tracks down the boy’s father, she begins to question whether she will be able to let him go, since he has unleashed within her a maternal instinct she had no idea she possessed. 

In her debut, the first in a projected series, Henry proves herself to be a smooth and compelling storyteller. And her lead is highly appealing: an athletic, fiercely independent young woman who, like crime-fiction author Gillian Flynn’s feisty females, is capable of making delightfully acerbic observations. –Joanne Wilkinson

I admit, at first I didn’t want to read it. I’d ordered it online, and it sat there on my reading pile. I read both Megan Chance books first. Then I read the latest Laura Levine paperback. I even started the latest Marcia Muller but realized I wasn’t quite in the mood for that – right now. So I picked up Learning to Swim, and I still wasn’t sure. What did the title tell me? It sounded like another slow-paced, dry, women’s fiction novel. Even the cover did nothing for me.

But I must have been in just the right mood because when I started reading the first page this time (I’d attempted it before and put it down), I stayed with it. And then I couldn’t put it down until I’d finished reading it.

It was plotted and written brilliantly. I became the main character, and I longed to take care of a six-year-old boy. While I don’t have kids of my own, I practically raised my younger siblings and my kid rescue instincts are stirred when I see kids who look endangered. She touched that part of me. I wanted to move to the Adirondacks in New York, maybe even Canada, maybe even brush up on my nine days of French – lol – I was so drawn into the story. It stayed with me and changed me forever.

And then I learned there’s more to come – it’s the first in a series. To find out more, check out Sara’s web site.

PS – I recently reviewed What the Heart Knows by Mara Purl and she is going to be hosting a live chat next Monday, October 10. So if you’d like to participate, click on Mara Purl for instructions on how to join the conversation.