When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger

A special thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren Weisberger is back and so is Emily Charlton!  

Readers will remember Emily from The Devil Wears Prada as Miranda Priestly's chief assistant. Emily is now living in Hollywood and is an image consultant for the rich and famous.  Although her roster of clients includes high profile celebrities, she is losing clients to another younger image consultant and seems to be in a downward spiral.  She needs to put herself back on top—nobody does damage control like Emily, but the problem is she is hopeless when it comes to social media.  

Karolina Hartwell is the ex-model wife of a senator on track for the presidency.  Their life seems picture perfect until Karolina is arrested for a DUI with a Suburban full of children.   

Although the women met at Runway years earlier, Miriam is the link between them.  She was a partner at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, but decided to move to the suburbs of Greenwich, CT to spend more time with her children.  Being a stay-at-home mom in a wealthy affluential neighbourhood sounds like every woman's dream, but Miriam is discovering that it is more stressful than her high-profile job.

The three women band together over Karolina's woes to navigate their way through life in the burbs.  All is not as it appears, Hollywood has nothing over Greenwich.

Can I tell you that I tore through this book?  It was completely addictive and indulgent.  And the title...can we just take a moment to appreciate how clever and cheeky it is?

Weisberger has penned three very different, but as equally intriguing, characters.  Fans of The Devil Wears Prada are not going to be disappointed.  In my opinion, this was far better than Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns and I'm wondering if it is because this book came home to the characters that made the series what it was, Emily and Miranda.

This book should be top of your summer reads pile.  Perfect for discussing with your girlfriends over your favourite cocktails!  Cheers, Lauren Weisberger.   

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LAUREN WEISBERGER is the New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada, which was published in forty languages and made into a major motion picture starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. Her books—The Singles Game, Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston, Last Night at Chateau Marmont, and Revenge Wears Prada—have sold more than thirteen million copies worldwide. 

Weisberger lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.  

Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A young British couple are in France on a vacation. When they stop for gas, Finn goes in to pay and Layla stays in the car. When he returns, her car door is ajar and she is not inside. Layla vanishes without a trace.

Ten years later, Finn has put the past behind him and is engaged to Ellen. When he comes home from work to find his fiancée sitting on the sofa with an object in her hand, he quickly realizes something is amiss. This object would mean nothing to most people, but Finn and Ellen know what it is—it is a Russian doll that belonged to Ellen when she was a child. Only three people know about the Russian dolls: Ellen, Layla, and Finn.

As more questions surface, fractures form in their relationship. Has Layla returned? And why after all this time?

Paris' debut Behind Closed Doors was great and I loved The Breakdown. Unfortunately, after reading this, I was left both wanting and expecting more. Make no mistake, it was definitely a page-turner, and did ultimately hold my interest but there was nothing new and just simply felt old hat.

The alternating perspectives between past and present worked well. I was hooked from the beginning which I found was the best part of the book. The middle slowed and I was left struggling to connect with Finn and wasn't vested in his relationships. At first the Russian dolls were interesting, and then I just found the whole thing incredibly repetitive. And then the ending... Well, if you can suspend your disbelief, than you will love this book.

I'm hopeful that this is a one-off since her other books were so good. This one was simply not as clever or developed.

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B. A. PARIS is the internationally bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors and The Breakdown. She has worked both in finance and as a teacher and has five daughters.

Paris grew up in England, but has spend most of her adult life in France.

The Life Lucy Knew by Karma Brown

A special thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss and Park Row Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Sparks hits her head after suffering a winter weather related fall. When she wakes up in the hospital with her parents and co-worker, Matt, by her side, she wonders where her husband, Daniel, is. She believes that Daniel is her husband, but he's actually her ex-boyfriend that she hasn't spoken to in four years.  

She is suffering from what are fictitious memory recollections and her life as she knows it is completely different from her actual life. Essentially, it's like honest lying—Lucy's memories are false, but because she can even recall such vivid detail, the memories seem incredibly real to her. Given that Lucy's memory can't be trusted and that this may be a permanent condition, it is a devastating experience for her friends, family, and especially for Matt. You see, Matt is Lucy's doting boyfriend, not just her coworker which is how Lucy remembers him.

Despite Matt's best efforts, Lucy continues to have feelings for Daniel. Lucy must make a difficult choice about which life she wants to lead, who she wants to lead it with, and who she really is.

Karma Brown is one of my favourite authors. I had the pleasure of attending an event featuring Karma last May, and she is delightful! It was a high tea and book signing at the King Eddy in Toronto that was hosted by BookClubbish. Lainey, as in gossip maven, etalk correspondent, co-host of The Social, and founder of laineygossip.com Lainey, joined Karma for a Q&A session. The women chatted about the writing process—Lainey has also has written a book Listen to the Squawking Chicken: When Mother Knows Best, What's A Daughter To Do? A Memoir (Sort Of)—what it's like being a woman in the publishing industry, and where Karma gets her inspiration from. Both ladies were well-spoken and super interesting! If you have an opportunity to attend an event with Karma, I highly recommend you do so, you won't be disappointed.

For fans of Karma's books, The Life Lucy Knew is a bit of a detour in style, but one that I liked! Without giving anything away, the ending of this novel is further developed than her other stories and in this case it really worked. Also unique to this book was all of the Canadian references, and I enjoyed Toronto's presence in the story.

Karma is such a gifted writer. There were a few decisions that could have gone either way, and any of those scenarios would have worked because her writing is that good. Congratulations, Karma. Another fantastic read and I can't wait for your next book!

KARMA BROWN is an award-winning journalist and author of the bestsellers Come Away With Me, The Choices We Make, and In This Moment. In addition to her novels, Karma's writing has appeared in publications such as Redbook, SELF, and Chatelaine.

Brown lives just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband and daughter.

Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

A special thank you to Penguin First to Read for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anna Johnson is struggling with the death of both of her parents only moths apart to suicide.  She misses her mother especially as she has recently become a mother herself. Her therapist partner, Mark, worries that she is not coping.

On the anniversary of her mother's death, she receives a card that simply says "Suicide? Think again."  The police still insist it was suicide, Anna thinks it was murder, but they are both wrong.

Told from multiple points of view, readers gain enough insight to be engaged and vested in the story and characters themselves.  Mackintosh treats the secondary characters with as much care and development as the main characters and this pays off as I was equally enthralled, if not more, in officer Murray Mackenzie's storyline.  He has a complicated relationship with his wife Sarah who struggles with mental illness.  Murray cares for her as best as he can and loves her unconditionally amongst the ups and downs.  This was unexpected and adds another layer to this already enthralling read.

Mackintosh spent 12 years with the police force and this experience enhances her writing.  The story was sharp, and paced appropriately to build suspense and intrigue.  There were enough twists that I was always one step behind and did not have it all figured out.  This was refreshing, as of late this genre has been letting me down with too many books being overly predictable.

Family dynamics are a paramount theme to the book as well as secrets and lies.  Mackintosh explores just how far one will go to keep those they love safe.  The book is riveting and will have you guessing right up until the last page for one last twist!  

CLARE MACKINTOSH is the New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of I Let You Go, and I See You.

She is the founder of Chipping Norton Literary Festival and is the patron of the Silver Star Society, an Oxford-based charity that provides special care for mothers with medical complications during pregnancy at John Radcliffe Hospital.

She lives in North Wales with her husband and their three children.

Find You in the Dark by Nathan Ripley

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Martin Reese digs up murder victims from cold case files he buys from the police.  He calls in his findings anonymously to the police but Detective Sandra Whittal is suspicious of her caller and his motives.  As she moves in on discovering who her 'Finder' is, Martin is being hunted by someone who is not happy with his discoveries.  With his family's safety on the line, Martin must go even deeper into the dark realm of murder.

Hailed as a cross between Dexter and The Talented Mr. Ripley, I thought this book was going to be a mesmerizing study in character development.  Well...some comparisons just shouldn't be made.  I got completely lost in the story, and I don't mean that in a good way, I literally mean that I couldn't flesh out the actual story from the messy plot.  It was mediocre at best and I had to push myself to finish partly because I didn't connect with the characters—they were underdeveloped and at times not believable.  Nathan Ripley's Martin Reese lacks the depth and likability factor of Dexter Morgan, or the creepy brilliance of Highsmith's Tom Ripley.