Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger (2021)

 

Think twice before you swipe (from the book cover).

During the early stages of the COVID pandemic, Wren Greenwood meets the prefect man on an Internet dating app. But just when things are heating up between the two of them Adam disappears - all his online profiles deleted and his phone disconnected.  Was Wren ghosted? She is determined to find out exactly what happened and why. As Wren follows up on the things she knows about Adam, she discovers he is not what he seemed and that she is not the first woman to fall for the man she knows as “Adam”. Four other women have come before her and these four are now all missing. These women have one thing in common with Wren; they are all victims of trauma.

The story is told mainly from Wren's perspective over two timelines; present day and the traumatic childhood she has put behind her. The memories will not stay in the past however and Wren is forced to deal with them as she searches for “Adam. There is also a chapter on each of the missing girls. Readers will find themselves rooting for all the characters, even when they’re not acting in their own best interest.

The last quarter of the book makes a hard left turn and although my analytical mind had a hard time accepting it, it was nice to read something that didn’t end as expected. Be forewarned, this is a dark and disturbing story and you will be sucked into Wren’s world.

3.68 stars on Goodreads, 4.2 on Amazon

The Christmas Journey by Donna VanLiere (Christmas Hope #6) (2010)

 

VanLiere’s beautifully illustrated novella is the retelling of Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and the birth of the Christ child in a stable surrounded by animals. The author explores in great detail how Mary’s pregnancy has changed both their lives and all the couple experiences during their journey. A very quick read.

Do read the Preface and the Introduction before the actual story.

4.05 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon

Comfort & Joy: A Fable by Kristin Hannah (2005)

 

I first came across this book when compiling a list of the Christmas fiction in the library’s collection. The title certainly sounds Christmassy but the first subject heading in the catalog is “Survival after airplane accident”. You might ask, as I did, what that has to do with Christmas.  As it turns out, quite a bit.

Joy Candellaro has always loved Christmas but as the holiday approaches, she finds herself divorced and alone, and doesn’t feel like celebrating. So without telling anyone, she buys a last-minute ticket and boards a private plane headed for the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately the plane crashes in the Olympic rainforest. With no one knowing where she is Joy decides to just walk away from her ordinary life and thus begins an adventure unlike any she could have imagined.

Joy ends up in the small town of Rain Valley where six-year-old Bobby O’Shea is facing his first Christmas without his mother. Unable to handle the loss, Bobby has closed himself off from the world and his father Daniel who is desperate to help his son cope. Yet when the little boy meets Joy, they form a deep and powerful bond. In helping Bobby and Daniel heal, Joy finds herself again.

Not everything is as it seems in quiet Rain Valley, and in an instant, Joy’s world is ripped apart and her heart is broken. On a magical Christmas Eve, a night of impossible dreams and unexpected chances, Joy must find the courage to believe in a love—and a family—that can’t possibly exist and go in search of what she wants and the new life only she can find.

Hannah shows us once again the power of love and that dreams can come true at Christmas and all year round.

3.57 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 stars on Amazon

Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins (2021)

 

Kristan Higgins is well known for her feel good novels so Pack Up the Moon is somewhat a departure for her.  The book follows two journeys, one from diagnosis to death of a young wife and her husband’s from profound grief to living again. At times heartbreaking and sometimes laugh out loud funny, you won’t be able to put this one down.

Lauren and Joshua Park are very much in love and newly married when Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Lauren knows that Joshua, who is on the autism spectrum, will be devastated once she is gone and not know how to handle things without her.  So she sets out to write a series of letters to Joshua, to be delivered one a month for the first year after her death. In each Lauren gives Joshua very explicit instructions about a tack she wants him to perform. It is by performing these tasks that Joshua meets new people and learns to open up and live again.

Lauren is a letter writer. She also has written a series of letters to her deceased father to keep him up to date on what he is missing. It is through these letters the reader learns how Lauren is dealing with her diagnosis, how she and Joshua met and about their life together. Each chapter centers around one of her letters.

The characters in the book are fully developed, having both flaws and eccentricities. Although the book begins with Lauren’s funeral and her story is told in past tense, she comes alive on the pages.  The secondary characters are just as complex and quirky.

4.34 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon