What Wild Women Do by Karma Brown

A special thank you to Viking Canada/Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review..

Rowan is stuck. Her dreams of becoming a screenwriter are stalled, along with her bank account, as she and her fiancé Seth try to make sense of what's next for them after leaving LA. But when the couple takes a trip to a cabin in the Adirondacks, hoping the change will provide inspiration for Seth's novel-in-progress, Rowan finds herself drawn into a story greater than her own—that of socialite-turned-feminist-crusader Eddie Calloway, who vanished one day in 1975 and was never found or heard from again. In a handbook left behind in the abandoned ruins of a once great camp, Rowan starts to discover clues to what happened to Eddie.

As Rowan delves deeper into the mystery, we meet Eddie herself, a fierce and loving woman whose greatest wish was to host women at her camp and unlock their "wildness." However, Eddie's wild ways aren't welcomed by everyone, and rifts between camp owners threaten her mission. When Rowan gets closer to the truth of Eddie's disappearance, she realizes that it may hold the key to unlocking her own ambition and future

Much like its strong female characters, What Wild Women Do is a force. Told in dual timelines/perspectives, Brown's latest offering is a comment on social media, the pressures of societal expectations on women, and finding one's purpose. 

Although Rowan and Eddie are from different decades, they have a lot in common—they are passionate, strong, and resilient. Both storylines are equally captivating and an ode to women. Brown elevates the novel with added layers of mystery and self-discovery. 

Atmospheric, mysterious, and compelling, What Wild Women Do is a must read.

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

KARMA BROWN is an award-winning journalist and author of the bestsellers Come Away With Me, The Choices We Make, In This Moment, The Life Lucy Knew, and Recipe for a Perfect Wife. Her first non-fiction book, The 4% Fix, published in 2020. Karma's writing has appeared in publications such as Redbook, SELF, and Chatelaine. 

Brown lives just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband, daughter, and their adorably handsome labradoodle, Fred.

---

Q & A with Karma Brown*

GWR: This is your sixth fiction novel, do you approach each the same way or has your writing process changed? 

KB: Some things are always the same, like writing a detailed synopsis before a single page of the manuscript, and doing research and brainstorming ahead of drafting. I find a first draft (my least favourite part of the process) comes out more easily if I do this work first. You’re going to have to do the fiddly stuff at some point, and the “when” simply comes down to style and personal preference. However, I did something with this book that I haven’t before. Instead of writing the chapters consecutively, alternating between characters and timelines, I wrote Rowan’s (modern protagonist) storyline first, then switched to Eddie’s (1970s protagonist). That wasn’t my plan going in, but it’s what made sense for this book. So even though some things stay the same with my process, I’m always open to new strategies—every book is its own journey!

GWR: 
Being a screenwriter, Rowan would know how to pitch the book, but what do you think Eddie would say about it? 

KB: Eddie offers a lot of wisdom throughout the story, but I think she would keep it simple. Something like, “This book is about learning, and trusting, your personal truths. Nothing else matters!” After that she’d take a big sip of her beloved chocolate milk, and give a raised eyebrow look, as if to say, “Prove me wrong.”



GWR: Jess and Aidan live completely off the grid—is this something you think you could do? 

KB: Is it something I dream of doing? Yes. Is it something I think I could do…probably not. I am that person who wants to sit under a mother tree in a forest of mother trees, with a morning mug of coffee listening to birdsongs, and have nothing but wilderness surrounding me. But I’m also grateful that I can get next-day delivery without leaving my house, and I’m a big fan of indoor plumbing. 



GWR: The themes of this book—female relationships, societal pressures on women, the impact of social media—are all relatable, yet your take is fresh and also has an added element of mystery. Where did you draw inspiration from?

KB: I love setting a book in an isolated place, and the vast woods felt perfect for this story. When I was a child my parents took me and my younger sister to Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks. It was the 1970s, we were the children of hippies and so well-versed in exploring wide open spaces and spending time in nature. Camp Sagamore had originally belonged to the gilded Vanderbilt family—these great camps were compounds built in the woods for these families to escape city life—and we stayed in Gloria Vanderbilt’s cabin, which was exciting! We spent our days exploring the woods, making plaster casts of animal paw prints, eating communally in the large, wooden beamed dining hall, and bowling for hours in the open-air alley. It was magical, and all these years later, it was that visit that inspired the setting for this book. But an isolated forest also lends itself well to mystery and disappearances…the trees are great secret keepers. 

GWR: 

Strong women are central to your books. Who are some other authors you would recommend that also write strong female characters well? 

KB: This is a tough question to answer, not only because there are many authors to recommend, but also because what makes a female character “strong” depends on context, and perspective. However, some of my favourite female characters—who I think embody that adjective—are: Carrie Soto (Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid); Joanna Eberhart (The Stepford Wives, Ira Levin); Dr. Marina Singh (State of Wonder, Ann Patchett); Harriett Osborne (The Change, Kirsten Miller); and Carlota Moreau (The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia). 

GWR: 

What are some great books you’ve read this summer?

KB: This summer was a busy one, and I didn’t get as much time to read as I wanted to. So, here’s a sampling of a few great books I’ve read this year (so far): How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix; Weyward, by Emilia Hart; The Whispers, by Ashley Audrain; Nightbitch, by Rachel Yoder; The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise, by Colleen Oakley; Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. 

GWR: 

What do you hope readers will take away from What Wild Women Do?

KB: I hope readers see, through Eddie and Rowan’s stories, that bravery, courage and resiliency arrive in both bold and quiet ways. Also, to remember that we only get this one life…so, how do you want to spend it?  

GWR: 

If your book was a beverage, what would it be?

KB: I have no clue! Why is this the hardest question of them all?

Maybe a dark-roast, piping hot coffee, with a generous pour of organic soy milk, cinnamon and fresh nutmeg sprinkled on top. Strong, slightly out of the ordinary, a touch sweet and spicy. 



GWR: Can you share what you are working on next?

KB: All I can say at the moment is that I’m actively drafting a new story—one that veers into a different genre from what I’ve written before—and that I am having the most fun writing it! Stay tuned for more ☺ 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada. 

Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare

A special thank you to the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The bottom of Jess’s world is falling out. Cocooned in her dorm in the winter of 1998, she’s reeling, and wants to be left alone. But a chance encounter with the older, otherworldly, elusive Clara has Jess awestruck. Clara, newly returned from a two-year trek drifting around the world, is taking a stab at normalcy for once, and the place she starts is university, where she struggles to fit in. Upon meeting Jess, though, Clara feels an instant connection, and everything seems brighter. Soon, the two are inseparable, undeniable necessities in each other’s lives. But when tragedy strikes, they are unceremoniously torn apart, sent tumbling down different paths. And with each passing day, their unbreakable bond is tested more and more.

As they endure love and heartbreak, marriage, anxiety and isolation, and the complicated existence of motherhood, Jess and Clara must learn how to love each other through it all—and whether growing up inevitably means growing apart.

Asking for a Friend is an ode to friendships and the importance of connection. Claire's novel is both heartbreaking and uplifting—she perfectly captures how sustaining female relationships are.

Told in shifting perspectives and spanning two decades, this novel explores some weightier topics: abortion, pregnancy loss, women's reproductive rights, the challenges of motherhood, and women's roles. Jess and Clara have an unbreakable bond that sees them through the highs and lows of friendship, and their life choices yet through it all, they always find their way back to each another. 

With its incredible depth, this book is the perfect choice for book clubs and to celebrate the women in your life.

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

KERRY CLARE is a blogger, the author of Waiting for a Star to Fall and Mitzi Bytes, editor of The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood, a National Magazine Award-nominated essayist, and editor 49thShelf.com, a Canadian books website. 

Clare lives in Toronto with her husband and children.

---

Q & A with Kerry Clare*

GWR: How did you start writing/become a writer?   

KC: I've loved books my whole life and have wanted to be a writer since Grade 3 when I wrote a poem about Remembrance Day that, if I may boast a bit, was kind of a big deal around the school assembly that year. What a wondrous thing it was to write *and to be read,* and I've been chasing that high ever since, and am fortunate to have moved through the school system with many teachers who nurtured my creativity. I "became a writer" officially when my first child was born in 2009 and I left my understimulating job with vague plans of becoming a freelance writer, and I'm so grateful that it actually worked out. 

GWR: What was the inspiration for Asking for a Friend?

KC: The inspirations for the novel were the women friends who've been among the great loves of my life, and I wanted to honour those relationships and acknowledge how fundamental they've been to who I am today. 

GWR: What do you have more fun with, character development or plot?

KC: Character is where it all starts for me, and discovering who Jess and Clara really were, and who they were in the process of becoming as the story progressed was such a fascinating process. I was also really interested in how a friendship is not a parallel journey, that characters weave in and out of each other's life—that sometimes Jess and Clara need each other and other times their connection is just too much to be withstood. And the plot comes from that, these little earthquakes that can break worlds apart or bring them back together again. 

GWR: Why did you decide to write the book third person perspective? Was it easier or more challenging to write it this way?

KC: Third person was the only way it ever was! I think a bit of distance from each character was necessary in order to show that this whole novel belongs to both of them, always, even though the chapters alternate between their different points of view. 

GWR: I loved the nod to Summer Sisters—what significance does that book hold for you?

KC: I still have my original hardcover copy, and my mom and my sister have theirs too. It was very much a book we read together, a bonding experience, and when I reread it during the summer of 2022, I was thrilled that it still holds up. I'm quite excited that it's having a moment with a rerelease and celebration as a "Read with Jenna" book selection! There is something so ephemeral and yet ETERNAL about summer, and stories of friendship in a summer setting, and while I didn't set out to write a book that had such a structure, there turned out to be some real commonalities! 

GWR: You’ve captured many facets and types of relationships—heartbreak, isolation, love, growing apart, marriage, motherhood, friendship—why were these connections important to write about? What do your female relationships mean to you? 

KC: I was really interested in the ways that experiences of motherhood and maternity—and just even having the capacity to get pregnant—can draw friends together and also drive them apart. We hear a lot about a divide between women who have children and those who don't, but it's even much more complicated and nuanced than that. And even among women who do become pregnant, there exist an infinite number of different choices, possibilities and outcomes for how things turn out. Some of it is about choices, so much of it isn't, and it all results in inevitable tension that's just ripe for exploring in fiction. I am grateful to have had long friendships that haven't meant everything to me, and I'm also grateful to be twenty years past the tumult of our 20s, which were filled with so many changes and when every decision or choice felt impossibly weighted (and personal, even when those choices or decision were somebody else's!). I'm happy to be older, more confident and wise enough to know that there are so many different ways to a build a life. It's all just a little bit easier now. 

GWR: What other authors write female friendships well?

KC: Well, Judy Blume, obviously! What's wonderful about Summer Sisters is that we get her incredible insight about friendship (as demonstrated in books like Just as Long as We're Together, Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, Blubber, and others) but in a story that moves from girlhood to adulthood. I also love the way that Margaret Drabble writes about friendship in her 1987 novel The Radiant Way. And I LOVE Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell so very much. And absolutely beautiful (and sad!) memoir about friendship is Anita Lahey's recent book, The Last Goldfish. 

GWR: What do you hope readers take away from Asking for a Friend?

KC: I hope that every reader has a friend that the book puts them in mind of, and that they might be inspired to get in touch again if it's been a while, and—even if it hasn't been—maybe send that friend a copy! 

GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be?

KC: It would be a warm cup of ginger tea served in a beloved mug. (Thank goodness for editors—I had so many notes in earlier drafts about sips of tea my characters took that would definitely have burned their tongues. In the final version, Jess and Clara take a bit more time to get their tea cool...) 

GWR: Can you share what you are working on now?

KC: I was fortunate to get to answer your questions before way back when my previous novel came out in 2020, and I remember letting you know I was working on a project called Asking for a Friend, which seemed scary to actually type and put out into the world with no real certainty that it would ever see the light of day. AND HERE WE ARE! So I'll cross my fingers, hope for the best, and let you know that I've been working on a novel that's like if an Emily Henry book had a baby with a Katherine Heiny book, and its spinster aunt was Barbara Pym. 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune

A special thank you to the publisher, Penguin Canada, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn't.

At thirty-two, Fern's life doesn't look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern's back home, running her mother's Muskoka lakeside resort—something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend's the manager, and Fern doesn't know where to begin.

She needs a plan—a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern's going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern's not sure she wants to know what it is.

But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?

After a whirlwind daylong adventure, Ferm and Will make a promise that one of them keeps and the other breaks. Meet Me at the Lake is a beautiful story about missed connections and second chances set against the picturesque backdrop of Muskoka. 

Fortune's writing is effortless and immersive—she is a master of dialogue and witty banter. The narrative flows from past to present, urban to rural. Through well-developed and perfectly executed backstories, Fortune shows how Fern and Will become the present day versions of themselves. She also uses diary entries to fully flesh out the character of Maggie as well as Fern's memories in order to further explore the mother-daughter relationship which is a central theme of the book.  

Although there are similarities to Every Summer After—lake setting, the theme of grief, dual timeline—this is an entirely fresh story. Brimming with nostalgia for summers at the lake, Meet Me at the Lake is like coming home.

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

CARLEY FORTUNE is an award-winning journalist who also worked as an editor at some of Canada’s top publications, including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Toronto Life, and was most recently the Executive Editor of Refinery29 Canada. Carley holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). 

Carley spent her young life in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, and in Barry’s Bay, a tiny lakeside town in rural Ontario and the setting for Every Summer After. 

Fortune lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons. 

---

Q & A with Carley Fortune*

GWR: Are you a pantser/gardener or a plotter/architect? What does your writing process look like? How many hours a day do you write?

CF: I’m a pantser. Before I begin, I have a broad concept for the story, and if there’s a twist or a reveal, I might know that too—though not always. I have the vaguest sense of who my characters are, but almost everything reveals itself as I write. I love that about my process. The way scenes, dialogue, and character quirks pop into my brain often feels like magic. 

Writing is my day job, and I approach it like one. As soon as my husband and kids are out the door, I get to work, breaking for lunch and (hopefully) exercise, and then am back to my keyboard until everyone gets home and chaos ensues. I tend to write my first draft quickly and without editing. But by the time I hand it in to my editors, I’ve revised the manuscript multiple times. 

 

GWR: You have a publishing background—did this help or hinder your writing? What do you like most about the publishing process?

CF: I was a journalist for sixteen years, working as an editor at outlets like Refinery29, Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail, and Toronto Life. So much of what I’ve learned about writing and the editorial process comes from my media background and from my journalism degree: the importance of clarity, selecting telling details, the tremendous value of editors, meeting deadlines, reaching an audience, the power of a good cover, and what it means to produce something at the intersection of art, craft, and commerce. 

What I love about book publishing is the extra time and attention that goes into the work, as well as the longevity of a novel compared to an article. My debut novel, Every Summer After, came out in May of 2022, and it boggles my mind that there are still thousands of people buying a copy of the book every week. I’ve always been passionate about my work, I’ve always put my heart and soul into my job, and now I feel like it’s absolutely worth the effort. I know I’m doing what I was meant to do.

 

GWR: What was the inspiration behind Meet Me at the Lake?

CF: Insomnia! I wrote Every Summer After in 2020 while I was pregnant with my second child, and we sold it in a two-book deal when I was eight months pregnant. I suffered insomnia throughout the pregnancy and after I gave birth. At the same time, I had to pitch an idea for my second book to my editor. I was lying awake in the middle of the night after a feeding, trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do. So I asked myself where I wanted to be. I find that writing is like reading, in that you’re transported to the characters’ world. And I saw it immediately: a classic lakeside resort in Muskoka, and Fern, who’s reluctantly back home running the place following the death of her mom. There’s a storyline told through a series of diary entries Fern’s mom wrote in the summer of 1990, and that came to me that night as well. The love story took longer to sort out. I decided to challenge myself to do the exact opposite thing I did with Every Summer After, where the characters fall in love over years. In Meet Me at the Lake, I wanted to build an intense, life-altering bond in just 24 hours. 

GWR: Did you start writing Meet Me at the Lake before the release of Every Summer After? Did the success of Every Summer After impact your writing of Meet Me at the Lake?

CF: By the time Every Summer After was published, I had already submitted the second draft of Meet Me at the Lake. Both my editor and agent, who are tremendously talented and savvy, had suggested having the second book well underway by the time the first came out. And I’m so glad I followed their advice. I already had a massive case of self-doubt while working my second book. I was worried my ability to write Every Summer After had been a fluke. We had big hopes for Every Summer After, but the way it exploded was a huge surprise, at least to me. I’m sure my imposter syndrome would have been almost debilitating had I been drafting Meet Me at the Lake when Every Summer After became a bestseller. 

 

GWR: Did any minor characters become major characters over the course of the novel?

CF: Yes. In my first draft of Meet Me at the Lake, Jamie, who is Fern’s ex and the manager of the resort, was not her ex. With every draft, he took on a greater role, which was so fun, because Jamie was one of my favourite characters to write. Maggie, who is Fern’s mom, was always a major character, but since she’s recently passed away when we meet Fern in the present-day storyline, she is mostly developed through her diary entries and through Fern’s memories. The mother-daughter relationship is core to the book, and my editors helped me give it (and Maggie herself) texture, weight, and specificity with every draft. 

 

GWR: You shift perspectives with the use of diary entries and alternate between past and present—what made you decide to write the book this way? Was it easier or more challenging to explore the parallel storyline?

CF: I love playing with time, and I enjoy books that experiment with structure and technique. I love it when characters have a history, so when I’m brainstorming, I tend to spend much of my effort creating elaborate backstories for my love interests. It feels natural for me to go back and forth between present and past storylines, and in some ways easier than writing one linear story—it’s like two short books in one, and I can pack in a lot. I’m interested in how our relationships to ourselves and others shift over time, and alternating timelines is a great tool for exploring that. 

 

GWR: There is strong nostalgia associated with your books for summers in Muskoka/Barry's Bay as well as the city of Toronto—why is it important to feature these Canadian settings versus a generic US locale?    

CF: Every Summer After is set in Toronto and Barry’s Bay, which is a small town in eastern Ontario where I lived from grade four until the end of high school. Barry’s Bay far less populated than Muskoka and quite far from the city. Meet Me at the Lake is set at a fictional resort in Muskoka and the Toronto of ten years ago. Every Summer After began as a project that was just for me. I wanted to write about how I grew up: on a lake, in the bush, with cottagers who come and go with the seasons. But when I realized it might become a published book, I asked agents whether they thought the Canadian setting might be a problem. I got mixed feedback. Honestly: I wouldn’t have set the book in the US, but I would have made the precise location of Barry’s Bay unknowable if it meant being published. Fortunately, both my editor (who is based in New York) and my agent (who is based in LA) loved the setting, and I’m so grateful it appears the way I initially wrote it. In hindsight, I think that’s one of the reasons it resonated with readers outside of Canada—there’s an escapist element we crave in our summer reads. My favourite part of writing Meet Me at the Lake was Will and Fern’s twenty-four hours in Toronto—I think it’s dreamy and magical and a love letter to the city the same way that Every Summer After was a love letter to Barry’s Bay. 

 

GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be? 

CF: French press coffee, black, the way Fern drinks it. 

 

GWR: What are you working on now?

CF: I’m working on my third book, which I am preposterously excited about. It’s the most fun I’ve had writing thus far, and I can’t wait to share more about it. (Hopefully later this summer!) 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

Two for the Road by Chantel Guertin

A special thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gigi Rutherford loves love stories. She reads them, she sells them at her romance bookstore, and she could spend hours imagining the meet-cutes of every couple she encounters. But when it comes to her own love interests, Gigi is out of stock. Instead of enduring bad date after bad date, these days she’d rather curl up with her favorite audiobook and the only man who makes her heart skip a beat: Zane Wilkenson, the smooth-voiced narrator Gigi is convinced is her soulmate.

Then, she’s presented with the chance of a lifetime: a ten-day bus tour through the English countryside, an ocean away from her bookstore—all in the presence of Zane, in person, as he leads the tour.

But when Gigi arrives at the bus terminal in London, Zane is nowhere to be found. Until he shows up, she’s stuck with an eclectic group of fellow travelers: recently widowed and chatty Charlotte; trivia-obsessed Francis; Jenny, a true-crime-makeup YouTuber documenting every detail for her subscribers; and Sindhi and Roshi, a long-married couple who can’t stop bickering. Then there’s the brooding bus driver, Taj, who Gigi finds infuriating yet also incredibly alluring...

An impulsive trip across the pond becomes a life-changing journey for our heroine, Georgia "Gigi" Rutherford. In this delightfully witty story,  Guertin explores themes of love, family, and self-discovery. Two for the Road is a reminder that life’s most cherished and memorable moments can be found in the most unexpected of places—even when it seems like everything has gone wrong—and how sometimes, the journey to yourself is where you’ll find everything you’ve been searching for. 

There is incredible emotional depth to the both the story and the characters. Geurtin has an impeccable ear for dialogue made apparent by both the cheeky banter and touching conversations. Simply charming—like a pot of tea and a scone—and laugh out loud funny, Two for the Road is perfect for romance readers and armchair travellers. 

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

CHANTEL GUERTIN is the bestselling author of eight novels—four for adults and four for teens. 

Guertin lives in Toronto with her family.

---

Q & A with Chantel Guertin*

GWR: How did you start writing/become an author? Is there a particular author or work that inspired you to become a writer or how you write? 

CG: I always wanted to be an author. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. As a mini-me I spent all my free time reading and writing. If you love something, do it. Don’t let others try to sway you otherwise. Getting up every day and doing something you love is way better than dragging yourself out of bed to do something you hate for the money. Money’s great but it’s not everything. (Though it’s useful at Sephora).  

GWR: Are you a pantser/gardener or a plotter/architect? And do you approach each book the same way? 

CG: I read this question as “Are you a painter or a gardener?” and I felt bad about myself for a split second because while I like both activities, I’m not particularly good at either (LMK if you want me to give you a tour of my dead plants). Then I re-read the question, which is a hot tip for writers. Editors love when you reread your work before submitting it. Anyway! I’m a plotter, though as I write I let myself stray from the original plot if it’s not working.

GWR: How did you come up with the concept for Two for the Road? Where did you draw inspiration from?

CG: My favourite type of books are those that blend grief and humour. At first glance you think it’s a light book, but there are layers that (hopefully) stick with you after you finish the book. I wanted to write about a woman on a journey—literally and figuratively—in search of her soulmate and add depth to the story by connecting “the one” to her past.

GWR: Tell us about the research you did for the book? Do you have any ties to England?

CG: In case you were thinking about writing a travel-novel without leaving your house, I can tell you it’s possible, but a lot harder than writing a book set somewhere you know well. I relied a lot on virtual walking tours on YouTube. If you’ve never watched one, I highly recommend! They’re so soothing to watch. But nothing replaces actually being in a destination and smelling the air and flowers. So mid-pandemic, I took a solo, three-week trip to England. It felt very indulgent but ultimately was exactly what I needed to make the book what it is now. It was an amazing experience that I’ll  remember forever.

GWR: Do you have a favourite character? 

CG: I love Francis. He’s the kind of slightly annoying person you might expect to encounter on a group tour, but give him time. I dare you not to love him by the end.

GWR: What do you hope readers will take away from Two for the Road?

 CG: If you’ve ever wondered “what if”, this story is for you. What if you’d just followed your heart? What if you’d sought out that person you had a crush on 10 years ago? What if you booked that trip you always wanted to take?

GWR: What books are on your nightstand? What books would be on Gigi’s?

CG: Gigi mentions dozens of books throughout the story (some of her faves), and I’ve included the complete list at the back of Two for the Road. What’s on my TBR stack on nightstand right now: The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren, Forever Hold Your Peace by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke, Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune, Someone Else’s Shoes by JoJo Moyes and Asking For a Friend by Kerry Clare.

GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be? 

CG: London Fog.

GWR: What are you working on now?

CG: I’ve got a super swoony holiday rom-com coming this October 2023 called It Happened One Christmas!

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

The Sunshine Girls by Molly Fader

A special thank you to Graydon House for a finished copy in exchange for an honest review.

Two friends. A lifetime of secrets. One sparkling story.

1967 Iowa. Nursing school roommates BettyKay and Kitty don’t have much in common. A farmer’s daughter, BettyKay has risked her family’s disapproval to make her dreams come true away from her small rural town. Cosmopolitan Kitty has always relied on her beauty and smarts to get by and to hide a devastating secret from the past that she can’t seem to outrun. Yet the two share a determination to prove themselves in a changing world, forging an unlikely, powerful bond on a campus unkind to women.

Before their first year is up, tragedy strikes, and the women’s paths are forced apart. But against all odds, a decades-long friendship forms, persevering through love, marriage, failure and death, from the jungles of Vietnam to the glamorous circles of Hollywood. Until one snowy night leads their relationship to the ultimate crossroads.

Fifty years later, two estranged sisters are shocked when a famous movie star shows up at their mother’s funeral. Over one tumultuous weekend, the women must reckon with a dazzling truth about their family that will alter their lives forever…

Told from the perspectives of Clara, BettyKay, and Abbie, and with alternating timelines, The Sunshine Girls is about the power of female relationships. Strong women are what elevate the story.

Fader also employs an epistolary style narrative with the inclusion of the torn out pages from BettyKay’s diaries. These missing passages not only provide context, but they offer insight to the societal expectations of the time. The women were confined with their limited choices and by the men in their lives—Hugh, Dr. Fischer, Rex, and Jenny’s father, Roy.

Kitty, Jenny, and BettyKay have difficult relationships with their parents. It is these fractured relationships that not only shape their lives, but strengthen their bonds—they are sustained by their friendship.  

With its instant hook, compelling characters, well-kept secrets, and a little bit of old Hollywood glamour, The Sunshine Girls is a captivating and enlightening read that’s a perfect book club choice. 

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

MOLLY FADER is an award-winning author of more than 40 romance novels under the pennames Molly O'Keefe and M. O'Keefe. The McAvoy Sisters Book of Secrets was her first women's fiction novel.

Fader resides in Toronto with her family.

---

Q & A with Molly Fader*

GWR: You also write contemporary romance and erotic romance (under M. O’Keefe and Molly O’Keefe) in addition to book club fiction. Do you approach each novel the same way or does it vary depending on the genre?

MF: My approach to writing every book is pretty much the same. An idea grabs a hold of me and I ask myself a bunch of questions about the people in the idea and what those people want and what they need and the secrets they might be keeping. When I’m writing a romance—these questions are really focused on the relationship between the two people falling in love. I think about sex quite a bit :) and ask myself what sex means to them and how can I make that more interesting/compelling/moving. 

Book club fiction opens up the questions. I get to think about the secrets mothers keep from daughters and how siblings have different experiences with the same parent and how the effects of the choices people make can rattle through families.  I also like exploring the  recent past in book club fiction. The Sunshine Girls takes place in the 1960’s-1980’s and now and the research into that era was fascinating. 

GWR: How did you come up with the title? Were there actually “Sunshine Girls”?

MF: Ha—well, there were Sunshine Girls, but it was my T-Ball team as a kid!!!  I was thinking of the candy stripers—girls who volunteered in hospitals and wore striped uniforms. It’s kind of a too sweet name for pretty difficult job. I liked the idea of these first year nurses having a name like that—something slightly misleading and bright in contrast to the occasional darkness of the job. 

GWR: What was the inspiration for the novel and how did you decide at which point to start the story? 

MF: Amazingly, the beginning of the novel—with two estranged sister’s at their mother’s small town funeral and in walks none other than stage and screen icon—Kitty Devereaux to tell them they didn’t really know their mother at all. That scene came to me in a dream. And that actually happens a lot but I never remember the dream or I try and write it down and it’s just gibberish. But that scene stuck with me—and so I started to ask my questions. Why are the sister’s estranged? How would Kitty Devereaux meet a small town, Iowa nurse? Why was she kept a secret? And those questions led me directly to my mom’s experience in nursing school in the 1960’s. 

I can’t imagine I’m going to have an experience like that again. It was really magical and fun. The story felt like it was waiting for at every turn. 

GWR: Can you tell us about the research you did?

MF: Some of the events in the past time line are lifted directly from my mother’s experience. She and my aunt were an absolute treasure trove of historical and medical details. I went down a rabbit hole of women’s reproductive rights from early pregnancy tests  and ultra sounds to abortion procedures. There have been some amazing books published by women who served as nurses in Vietnam—those books were utterly invaluable. 

GWR: Give your best Hollywood pitch for the book and who would you cast?

MF: The Sunshine Girls is about two sisters who realize their mother isn't who they'd always thought when a legendary movie star shows up at her funeral, unraveling the sweeping story of a friendship that begins at a nursing school in Iowa in 1965 and onward as it survives decades of change, war, fame-and the secrets they kept for each other.

Oh, this is an endlessly fun game. A lot of readers have come to me with really surprising choices! 

I always saw the sisters as Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon—I think the two of them could really bring out some of the humour in their storyline. 

BettyKay and Kitty are tricky because the timeline is over so many years.  Obviously, I thought about Reese Witherspoon for Kitty. Or Nicole Kidman. Those two women have a lot of star power. 

I love the actress Melanie Lynskey for BettyKay.  Or Amy Adams would be great too. 

GWR: Why did you decide to write The Sunshine Girls from multiple and generational points of view? 

MF: I’ve been wanting to do a dual timeline book for a while. I love reading them and I was just waiting for the right kind of story to come together. And Kitty Devereaux walked into the funeral and gave me that story. I was really interested in making the Hollywood Legend come from surprising origins.

GWR: Female relationships—mother and daughter, sisters, friends—are paramount to all of your contemporary fiction novels (The McAvoy Sisters Book of Secrets, The Bitter and Sweet of Cherry Season, The Sunshine Girls). What other authors are especially good on writing these types of relationships?

MF: Oh gosh—SO MANY.  I love Canadian author Heather O’Neill—she has an AMAZING voice and she writes nuanced female friendships so well.  Joshilyn Jackson is a hero of mine and even her new domestic suspense novels have rich and surprising female relationships. A fabulous debut this year was The Thread Collectors by Alyson Richman and Shaunna J. Edwards—a novel set during the American Civil War about two very different women. And a Canadian debut I seriously loved was Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall about the real-life underground networks organizing safe abortions before they were legal and homes for unwed mothers.

Sonali Dev’s new one—The Vibrant Years—about three generations of women all starting to date is fabulous. 

GWR: The men in the story tried to control the women in their lives and these women were also confined by their limited number of choices. Why was this important for you to write about?

MF: Well, it sprang from the time and the place. My mother told me when she choose to go to nursing school—she only had two options for employment—nursing or teaching. She chose nursing and nursing school and hospitals were a tiered system—with male doctors at the top. It was also really important to me to tell a story about how women’s reproductive rights were shrouded in lack of information. We all know the 60’s and 70’s were a time of huge social change for women and I wanted to write a very personal story about what that looked like. 

GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be? 

MF: Oh, my mom’s lemonade for sure. Tart, sweet, icy cold. Refreshing and comforting at the same time.

GWR: What are you working on now?

MF: I am working on a super fun book set in the early 80’s NYC. It features Studio 54, some female vigilantes, and two sisters trying to find out the truth about their mother. 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

All I Want for Christmas by Maggie Knox

True love wasn't on their holiday wish list.

When Sadie and Max are selected as contestants on the famed reality singing show Starmaker, each thinks they've finally gotten their big Nashville break. But then they're paired up for duet week and stun the world with their romantic onstage chemistry. With fans going wild for #Saxie the network demands that they remain a duo on and offstage, or exit the competition. Faking a relationship until their final performance in the Starmaker holiday special shouldn't be too hard, except for one small problem—Sadie and Max can't stand each other.

With the deadline of their fake relationship approaching, they come together to write an original holiday love song, but will the magic of Christmas spark a romance?

All I Want for Christmas is the sophomore effort from Maggie Knox, the powerhouse duo of Karma Brown and Marissa Stapley. This novel reads like The Hating Game meets Nashville—it'a a festive and flirty enemies to lovers tale. 

Although this book is sweet and swoon-worthy overall, there are some weightier themes—alcoholism, abandonment of a parent, grief, death of a loved one. And there is lots of grumpy/sunshine. 

Complimented by holiday music, All I Want for Christmas will put you in the festive spirit. 

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

KARMA BROWN is an award-winning journalist and author of the bestsellers Come Away With Me, The Choices We Make, In This Moment, The Life Lucy Knew, and Recipe for a Perfect Wife. Her first non-fiction book, The 4% Fix, published in 2020. Karma's writing has appeared in publications such as Redbook, SELF, and Chatelaine. 

Brown lives just outside Toronto, Canada with her husband, daughter, and their adorably handsome labradoodle, Fred.

MARISSA STAPLEY is a journalist and the bestselling author of Mating for Life, Things to Do When It's Raining, The Last Resort and Lucky which has been optioned for television. 

Stapley lives in Toronto with her family. 

---

Q & A with Maggie Knox*

GWR: How long did it take you to write All I Want for Christmas, and how many drafts were there before publication?

MK: We took about a year to write it. Because this one was sold to our wonderful editing team at Putnam, Viking Canada, and Hodder in the UK on a proposal (along with The Holiday Swap, our debut), we approached it a bit differently than we do our other novels: we wrote an outline, then a half draft, which we shared with our editors. They gave feedback on that (which actually required a complete overhaul of the dual timeline we were initially using to tell the story), we wrote the rest of the draft, and then we went through two rounds of edits before it was ready for publication. 

GWR: Can you tell us about your writing process. What is the one thing that surprised you the most about writing as a duo?

MK: As with our previous novel, the outline was our saviour. We’re not sure it would be possible to co-write successfully without a rigorous, detailed outline. It’s natural that during the process of actually writing the book, some things will change. Characters have a way of tossing away the most carefully laid plans! But having a good roadmap in place made collaborating on a novel so much easier. What’s always surprising about writing as a duo is the way our writing can weave together so seamlessly in style and tone, even when we’re each writing a different character, as we did this time around. 

GWR: How did you come up with the concept?

MS: Oh my goodness, I’m having trouble remembering! I know it was during the whirlwind of selling The Holiday Swap, and during all the excitement we wondered what would happen if we pitched another idea, too. We’re both quick on our feet so went back and forth about it for a while and came up with an idea the editors loved and we were excited to work on. 

KB: My memory is also a bit spotty, but I’m remembering it the way Marissa does. One element we knew we wanted to add to the second book as well, along with a snowy, holiday feel, was the reality show angle. It’s one we both love, and it has so much potential in rom-coms.

GWR: Both of your books have a reality TV aspect—do either of you have experience in working in television? 

MS: One of my first jobs was in PR at VisionTV. I found working at a television station, especially one that was making the sort of unique programs VisionTV was making at the time, completely fascinating. I’ve also done some script-writing but never actually worked on-set. 

KB: During journalism school I interned at the CBC with the investigative journalism program The Fifth Estate. It was fascinating and inspiring to see the dedication and risks the show and its team took to bring such challenging stories to light. I was lucky enough to work with the formidable Leora Eisen, and received a writer credit for the episode “Spiritual Shepherds” (2003). It remains one of my best, most exciting work experiences to date.

GWR: Music is paramount to the story—can you play an instrument or do either of you have a musical background?

MS: We both have musicians in our family. I have a singer/actress aunt and a singer/songwriter uncle—plus a large extended family who can all sing and play various instruments and like to break them out at family gatherings for singalongs around the table or bonfire. I don’t have any musical talent myself, but I do own a karaoke machine and love to have friends over and belt it out, always confidently imagining we sound like Sadie with her magical voice…

KB: I have about zero musical talent! I used to play the clarinet, and not very well, in high school, and recently I tried to learn to play the ukulele…another fail. My dad, however, still plays in a band at the age of 83, and my mom is the most beautiful piano player. Clearly the musical talent skipped (at least) a generation in my family!

GWR: What is your favourite Christmas carol? 

MS: So many! Karma and I share a love of holiday music. We both love the Barenaked Ladies' version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"—if you’ve never listened to that one, do; it’s excellent. And Stevie Nicks’ version of "Silent Night" gets me every time. I’m also a sucker for the classics. Anything by Nat King Cole, but especially "O’ Tannenbaum" and Bing Crosby’s White Christmas album, which we have on vinyl and wear out during the holidays. 

KB: This is a hard one for me, because I adore Christmas carols. But my all-time favourite is "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole, and a close runner up is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by The Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan. Marissa and I definitely share a love of holiday music, which is one of the best parts about writing holiday romances…you have a perfect excuse to listen to carols outside of the regular season!

GWR: If your book was a beverage, what would it be? 

MS: A shot of fireball whiskey! Enjoyed at a country-music playing dive bar in the Canadian Rockies. 

KB: Probably a glass of excellent, homemade eggnog, spiced to perfection with nutmeg and cinnamon. I don’t believe anyone drinks eggnog in the book, but it is a sweet and spicy cocktail…much like our main characters.

GWR: What are you working on now? 

MS: I’m working on another holiday rom com co-authored with bestselling Canadian author Uzma Jalaluddin: it’s called Three Holidays and a Wedding, will be released next fall, and takes place during a year when Christmas, Eid, and Hanukkah all fall at once. It’s a multi faith Love, Actually meets Let It Snow, and it’s so much fun. After that, I’ll be finishing up my next solo novel, The Lightning Bottles, about a missing 90s rockstar and the woman who goes on a life-changing road trip to find him, due out in 2024. 

KB: I’m in the final stages of my next novel, What Wild Women Do, which releases November 2023. It’s a dual timeline story about a writer and filmmaker couple who head to the isolated Adirondack Park for a month-long research venture, and the 1975 feminist owner of one of the Park’s “Great Camps.” After the couple stumble upon the now abandoned camp, they make a shocking discovery that is connected to the decades-long mystery about the former camp owner…and learn that the truth—both in the past and present—won’t stay buried forever. 

*A version of this post was published on STYLE Canada.

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A special thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada/Doubleday Canada for an ARC in exchange for an ARC. 

Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked “the Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. 

Part story, part oral history, Carrie Soto is Back is a powerful novel about what it costs to be great. Professional sports (and sports in general) are a male-dominated space and a woman's perspective is hugely important to Taylor. This is evident in all of her books—she wants to make women feel seen and heard—and Carrie Soto is Back is no exception.

Reid once again writes about strong women and the downside of fame—Carrie is in good company with Evelyn, Daisy, and Nina. (Fun fact: at the beginning of Malibu Rising, we learn that Nina has separated from her husband, Brandon, and he is now living with his mistress, tennis pro Carrie Soto.) Driven and sharp, yet brash and bold, Carrie holds nothing back and only cares about winning. She is a layered, complex, and an unlikable character that is so well written that readers will not only root for her, but they will also be enamoured with the game of tennis.  

Taylor Jenkins Reid serves up an ace with Carrie Soto is Back. Highly recommend!

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

TAYLOR JENKINS REID is the author of the New York Times Bestselling novels Carrie Soto Is Back, Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones and the Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as well as One True Loves, Maybe in Another Life, After I Do, and Forever, Interrupted. Her books have been chosen by Reese’s Book Club, Read with Jenna, Indie Next, Best of Amazon, and Book of the Month. Her novel, Daisy Jones and The Six, is in post-production having been adapted by Hello Sunshine into a limited series for Amazon. 

She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and dog.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

A special thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

She's back.

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She's a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she's done, you've likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat's long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg's real target is.

"The difference between justice and revenge comes down to who's telling the story."

The Lies I Tell is a twisty cat and mouse domestic thriller. Told through alternating points of view and flashbacks, Clark reveals Kat and Meg's true intentions while leading her reader into the moral grey area where the plot sits. Readers will have compounding emotions—they won't know who is the con and who is the prey.

Clark's characters are complex, layered, and strong. Despite their distrust of one another, Meg and Kat forge an unlikely friendship that weaves an insidious and intriguing web. And fans of The Last Flight will love the cameo at the airport. Clever, clever! 

The Lies I Tell is perfectly executed! It takes a deep dive into the motivations of two women seeking justice for those who who have wronged them and in their endeavour to change the course of their lives.  

BUY NOW

JULIE CLARK is the New York Times bestselling author of The Ones We Choose and The Last Flight, which was also a #1 international bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty languages. 

Clark lives in Los Angeles with her family and a golden doodle with poor impulse control.

Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith

A special thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Hachette Book Group Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vincent, having grown up as the privileged daughter of artists, has a lovely life in many ways. At forty-four, she enjoys strolling the streets of Paris and teaching at the modern art museum; she has a vibrant group of friends; and she’s even caught the eye of a young, charismatic man named Loup. But Vincent is also in Paris to escape a painful betrayal: her husband, Cillian, has published a bestselling book divulging secrets about their marriage and his own past, hinting that when he was a teenager, he may have had a child with a young woman back in Dublin—before he moved to California and never returned.

 

Now estranged from her husband, Vincent has agreed to see Cillian again at their son’s wedding the following summer, but Loup introduces new complications. Soon they begin an intense affair, and somewhere between dinners made together, cigarettes smoked in the moonlight, hazy evenings in nightclubs, and long, starry walks along the Seine, Vincent feels herself loosening and blossoming.

 

In a journey that is both transportive and intimate, Half-Blown Rose traverses Paris, art, travel, liminal spaces, and the messy complexities of relationships and romance, with excerpts from Cillian’s novel, playlists, and journal entries woven throughout. As Cillian does all he can to win her back, Vincent must decide what she wants...and who she will be.

Cross-Smith's strength is in her immersive prose. She doesn't shy away from creating a strong female lead who (gasp!) puts her own passion above everything, even her family. Reeling from betrayal, Vincent—as in van Gogh—embraces her desires and sexual needs and what it means to be a woman, even while bleeding and emotional. (There's lots of period talk.)

But here's what doesn't work. Every character is not only attractive, but intelligent and interesting, which makes it feel like it's a script for a Hollywood movie. There are also no consequences for anyone's actions, least of all our heroine's (cue the ending). Meandering at times and manic at others, readers will be left feeling a little empty.

Half-Blown Rose is compelling, passionate, and beautifully written.  

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

LEESA CROSS-SMITH is a homemaker and the author of Every Kiss A War, Whiskey & Ribbons, So We Can Glow, and This Close to Okay. 

Cross-Smith lives in Kentucky with her husband and their two teenagers.

The Truth About Ben and June by Alex Kiester

A special thank you to HarperCollins Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A heartfelt debut that explores the complexity of a modern-day marriage when a new mother vanishes one morning and her husband must retrace events of their recent past to bring her home.

Love isn’t something that happens to you; it’s something you must choose every day.

From the moment Ben and June met in a hospital waiting room on New Year’s Eve, their love has seemed fated. Looking back at all the tiny, unlikely decisions that brought them together, it was easy to believe their relationship was special. But now, after several years of marriage, June is struggling as a new mom. At times, she wonders about the life she didn’t choose—what might have been if she hadn’t given up the lead role in a famous ballet to start a family. Feeling like a bad mom and more alone than ever, she writes to her deceased mother, hoping for a sign of what she should do next.

Waking to the sound of his baby, Ben realizes that June is gone, along with her suitcase. As Ben attempts to piece together June’s disappearance, her new friends mention things he knows nothing about—a mysterious petition, June’s falling-out with another mom, her strange fixation on a Greek myth. The more Ben uncovers about June, the more he realizes how little he actually knows her. And now the only way to bring June home is to understand why she left.

One of the central themes in The Truth About Ben and June is the Greek tragedy Medea. June, a former professional ballet dancer, had been cast to play the lead before becoming pregnant with her son. She resonates with the story which becomes apparent through the flashbacks and June's journal entries—techniques Kiester uses to propel the narrative.

Told through alternating perspectives of husband and wife, The Truth About Ben and June is an honest look into the highs and lows of marriage—as well as motherhood—and how many women sacrifice their careers in order to be the primary caregivers in their families. 

Kiester treats her characters with care in this solid debut. All-in-all good effort, even with the convenient conclusion.

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

ALEX KIESTER has a degree in creative writing from Rhodes College and has worked as a copy editor and a book editor. The Truth About Ben and June is her debut.

Kiester lives with her husband in Austin, TX. 

In the Weeds by B. K. Borison

A special thank you to the author, B. K. Borison, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Evelyn St. James isn’t the kind of woman you forget.

Beckett Porter certainly hasn’t. One incredible weekend in Maine, and he’s officially a man distracted. He’s not unfamiliar with hot and heavy flings. He knows how it goes. But Evie wove some sort of magic over him during their tumble in the sheets. He can’t stop thinking about her laugh. Her hand pressed flat against his chest. Her smiling mouth at his neck.

Also, her eyes. And her legs. 

So when she suddenly appears on his farm as part of a social media contest, he is…confused. He had no idea that the sweet and sexy woman he met at a bar is actually a global phenomenon: social media influencer Evelyn St. James. When she disappears again, Beckett resolves to finally forget her and move on. 

But Evelyn St. James has a problem. 

Feeling disconnected from her work and increasingly unhappy, she’s trying to find her way back to something real. She returns to the last place she was happy, Lovelight Farms and the tiny town of Inglewild. 

It has absolutely nothing to do with the hot farmer she spent two incredible nights with. 

Nothing at all. 

Borison's follow-up to Lovelight Farms is a second-chance romance about finding one's own happiness and worth. 

Evie is a workaholic that is struggling in her daily life with balance and burnout. Beckett is surrounded by strong women—his mom, his sisters, Stella, and Layla—but even with the emotional depth this allows him, he has trouble voicing his wants. There is an added layer of vulnerability that comes through in his love for animals and how social settings are a bit much for him (cue the earmuffs).      

Borison's writing is quiet and unassuming. It literally creeps up on you and envelopes you in a giant hug—which is what you will want to do with this book when you finish it. Besides a few missteps with punctuation, it is hard to believe that she isn't a seasoned author and is self-published. 

In the Weeds is a second-chance romance is about finding one's own happiness and worth. It is sweet, steamy, and sexy. A total smash! 

B. K. BORISON started writing in the margins of books when she was in middle school and hasn't stopped. Lovelight Farms was her debut novel.

Borison lives in Washington D.C. with her sweet husband, vivacious toddler, and giant dog. 

Meant to Be by Emily Giffin

A special thank you to the author, Emily Giffin, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A restless golden boy and a girl with a troubled past navigate a love story that may be doomed before it even begins in this irresistible new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Something Borrowed and The Lies That Bind.

The Kingsley family is practically American royalty, beloved for their military heroics, political service, and unmatched elegance. When Joseph S. Kingsley III is born in 1960, he inherits the weight of that legacy. Growing up with all the Kingsley looks and charisma, Joe should have no problem taking up the mantle after his father’s untimely death. But he is also a little bit reckless, and can’t seem to figure out how to channel the expectations of an entire country.

No one ever expected anything of Cate, on the other hand. She, too, grew up in a single-parent household—just her and her mom scraping by in their small apartment. As a teenager, though, Cate is discovered for her looks. Modeling may be her only ticket out of the cycle of disappointment that her mother has always inhabited. Before too long, her face is everywhere, though she is always aware that she’d be a pariah in her social circles if anyone knew her true story.

When Joe and Cate’s paths cross, their connection is instant. What remains to be seen is whether their relationship will survive the glare of the spotlight that follows Joe everywhere. And just as they find themselves in the make-or-break moment, the tragedy that seems to run in Joe’s family right alongside all that privilege will repeat itself.

Meant to Be is an against-all-odds love story that is inspired by Carolyn Bissette and John F. Kennedy Jr. It goes beyond the framework of their lives by musing the "what ifs" had they not perished in a plane crash. Although there are fresh backstories, the story is structured with actual events and captures Carolyn's iconic and timeless sense of style and John-John's charisma.    

Emily Giffin excels at not only creating characters that have emotional depth, but at writing about relationships in all of their messy glory. She channels the difficulty that Bissette faced marrying into such a famous family by putting Cate into similar situations—being stalked by the paparazzi—and Joe, charming and handsome, is also shouldering the weight of his family's legacy like John-John.

Written in alternating perspectives, Meant to Be is an exploration of class and privilege against the backdrop of an unexpected love story. And like The Lies That Bind, it romanticizes the nostalgia of the 90s. With a fascination for the Kennedys, Giffin shines a light on the obsession of celebrity culture and what could've been. Meant to Be is an escapist love story—complicated and beautiful. 

BUY NOW

LISTEN NOW

EMILY GIFFIN is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. She is the author of ten internationally bestselling novels: Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love the One You’re With, Heart of the Matter, Where We Belong, The One & Only, First Comes Love, All We Ever Wanted, and The Lies That Bind. Her books have been translated into thirty-one languages, with over twelve million copies sold worldwide. In addition, five of her novels have been optioned for the big screen and are in various stages of development. 

Giffin lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children.