Published: Harlequin – Mira
Date: 8th June 2021
Source: Publicist via NetGalley
Once upon a time, when her dad married Sage’s mom, Daisy was thrilled to get a bright and shiny new sister. But Sage was beautiful and popular, everything Daisy was not, and she made sure Daisy knew it.
Sage didn’t have Daisy’s smarts—she had to go back a grade to enroll in the fancy rich-kid school. So she used her popularity as a weapon, putting Daisy down to elevate herself. After the divorce, the stepsisters’ rivalry continued until the final, improbable straw: Daisy married Sage’s first love, and Sage fled California.
Eighteen years, two kids and one troubled marriage later, Daisy never expects—or wants—to see Sage again. But when the little sister they have in common needs them both, they put aside their differences to care for Cassidy. As long-buried truths are revealed, no one is more surprised than they when friendship blossoms.
The Stepsisters by Susan Mallery is a book about sisters. Daisy and Sage are stepsisters, Daisy and Cassidy are half sisters as are Cassidy and Sage. A little complicated but not really. Their relationships with each other didn’t get off to the best of starts. All thanks really to a mother figure who wasn’t that great at being a mother.
When Cassidy ends up at Daisy’s house after a bad accident, the three sisters have a second chance to discover what being sisters could mean. It is a rather pitted path, fraught with hiccups, very poor decisions and the need to stretch and grow on all their parts.
Daisy’s marriage has hit a rough spot and I have to say I really had no sympathy for the inept, complaining husband who projected all his feelings onto Daisy. He was one of two unlikeable characters in this story.
Each of the women grows considerably in the course of the story, and each finds a satisfying way forward. They change because they communicate with each other, they hang in there and recognise where they got things wrong. They discover a friendship and a supportive base that would I imagine sustain them for the rest of their lives.
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It may be a stretch to count this as a first responders book but because it involved those who were part of a mass shooting in a mosque in Christchurch and Husna responded to those shot around her and then was shot herself I count this as a very first responder’s story.
March – a book that was either a diary or a novel that had a diary within it. I chose The Light Over London as a diary is found by Cara in 2017. It takes us back to when Louise Keene a young British women enlisted and became part of a women’s gunner team. It is told well and seamlessly goes between each era. Some secrets, some heartache, lots of courage and second chances. I enjoyed it, although I did find it just a little slow moving.
April challenge was a book from the Times Magazine all time 100 list or the Guardian 1000 books list. Well that’s quite a choice, but very few of them were that palatable to me. In the end I went with A Wizard of Earthsea, which is fantasy and I vaguely remember liking many, many years ago. I decided to reread it, and it was like new as I had remembered very little of it. It’s main character is Ged who is involved in a long journey to find out who he is and who his real enemy is. He goes through danger, loss and suffering. And has his victory that is a start. (There are a number more books). My favourite character in this book is Vetch who is a true friend for Ged.
Historical Fiction.
This one publishes at the end of June. I will most likely buy it on Kindle and later get it in paperback. It is another book in Susan Elizabeth Phillips Chicago Stars series. I have read all the others. This has an international opera singer and a football player of some sort. Contemporary romance.
Last year I enjoyed Well Behaved Indian Women by this author. and I ‘d like to read this year’s one publishing in June. It is about an American -Indian family. It’s not at my library so I think I need to put in an order!
This one comes out early July and I will either buy it on Kindle or listen on audio. This one is #3 in the Indian Raje family who live in America. I really enjoy this author.
I enjoyed Ayesha at Last last year by this author and so I decided to buy this one. It is on the way to me. It is set in Toronto and has a Muslim character. It is slotted as a romantic comedy, but if its like Ayesha at Last it will not be a daft one!
This book publishes later this month and I have it pre-ordered it. I have come to enjoy this Irish author and so I pretty much automatically buy her books. It is about some one returning home but have to wait and see exactly what it’s all about!
She has read the first three books in this series, no doubt her parents read them aloud to her first. They are both very talented in the read aloud area. They read aloud to her every night.
This is the latest in the series she is also reading. Harriet Muncaster is a British author and so talented with her drawings. “Mirabelle’s mum is a witch, her dad is a fairy, and she is a bit of both.
This is a series too and this is number 7. By an Australian author. These are graphic novels and the bad guys are really good guys.
When Mr. 7 year old got a nasty infection behind his eye he had to spend quite some time in hospital last month. His grandmother bought him this book and she has been reading this one to him. It’s their book. A British author who seems to be very popular among NZ children!
Shannon Hale – the author lives in Utah, USA. “Princess Magnolia is having hot chocolate and scones with Duchess Wigtower when . . . Brring! Brring! The monster alarm! A big blue monster is threatening the goats! Stopping monsters is no job for dainty Princess Magnolia. But luckily Princess Magnolia has a secret —she’s also the Princess in Black, and stopping monsters is the perfect job for her ! Can the princess sneak away, transform into her alter ego, and defeat the monster before the nosy duchess discovers her secret? ”
