Review: The Last Little Secret by Zuri Day

The Last Little Secret by Zuri Day
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published: May 2021

When Samantha returns home after being in Africa, she needs to find a job. She doesn't want to accept the position from Nick given their past. But this job is too great to pass up and she needs it to support her family. And that's the one thing she doesn't want Nick to find out about. So Sam has a choice to make, does she take the incredible job with Nick and let the cat out of the bag, or does she find something else and keep her secret forever?

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Sam is in quite the pickle when she returns from Africa and starts working for the man she had a one night stand with a little over a year ago. If she had her way, they would still be together. Nick is a businessman whose only focus is getting these vacation homes up and running for people to rent out. He has always admired Sam's work and is grateful to have her around. But will he still think that about her when he finds out her secret?

This book was alright. It was pretty predictable, with a couple of surprises along the way.



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Review: His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published: September 2020
 

"Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding." 

When a book starts like that, you have to keep going until the very end. How can the groom not show up for the wedding? I had never heard of anything like that before. In Ghana, Afi is ready to marry Eli. His family is not happy with him because he is with a woman they do not approve of and he has gotten her pregnant. Afi waits nearly two months before she even sees her husband for the first time. Their marriage is not what she expected and she puts her foot down about it. But, in Africa, that is not how wives are supposed to act. Will her actions make her husband draw closer to her or further away?

Thank to Algonquin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book hooked me from the opening line. How the hell are you not going to go to your own wedding and then wait months to see your wife? I know I could never agree to something like that. I would have felt as if I was left at the altar. Then he has a whole other woman that he and his family promises will be going away, but will she ever?

One thing I can say about Afi is that she didn't wait around for her husband every day. She went out and did something with her life. Even though she didn't have to work and she could have sat around the house all day watching soap operas, she chose to do more. She went to fashion school to improve her sewing skills. She had a house built for her mother and opened her own boutique. Even though she was pulled in different directions concerning her marriage, she still went her own way and did what she thought was best for her and her life.

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Advanced Praise for His Only Wife

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PRAISE:

“A delightful debut novel… Crazy Rich Asians for West Africa.”

—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“A hilarious, page-turning, sharply realized portrait of modern womanhood in the most infuriating of circumstances.

A gem of a debut.”

—Wayetu Moore, author of She Would Be King

"A unique and unapologetic marriage story that shines with honesty, humanity, power and grace: once you pick this

book up, you won't be able to put it down. Medie's urgent, intimate voice is exactly what the world needs right now."

—Mathangi Subramanian, author of A People’s History of Heaven

“Its message bold and its viewpoint appealing, His Only Wife is an inspiring novel.”

—Foreword Reviews

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Review: Leaving Time: A Novel

Leaving Time: A Novel by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jenna Metcalf is thirteen years old and more than anything, she wants to find her mother, Dr. Alice Metcalf. Alice is a doctor who studies the behavior of elephants, specifically, grief. She goes missing when Jenna is just three years old and there was a tragic accident at the Elephant Sanctuary where they lived and that her parents owned/worked. Jenna doesn't believe that her mother would have ever left her behind, so she enlists the help of Serenity Jones, a once famous psychic who helped to find missing people and Virgil Stanhope, a private detective, who was on the police force and was a part of the investigation of the accident at the Sanctuary. With their help, will Jenna be able to find her mother? And when she does, will she be disappointed by what she finds?

I have enjoyed reading Jodi Picoult novels for a long time. They always leave me with different kinds of emotions. Some happy, some sad, sometimes confused. Leaving Time was no exception. I felt a connection to each character. With Jenna, I felt sadness of the loss of her mother and her plight to find her. For Alice, a felt compassion for her work and the situation she was living in. For Serenity, I'm not quite sure my feelings about her, but she was a caring force in Jenna's life. For Virgil, it was pity, that he was unable to get his life together and accomplish his goals.

Listening to this book I was intrigued by the subject matter. Based on the idea that "an elephant never forgets" it was fascinating to learn about how elephants interact with humans and with each other, especially after they suffer a loss. A lot how we as humans grieve. This is another book that will make you think and keep you on your toes, covering subject matters of wildlife, mental illness and supernatural abilities. In the last 5% of the book there was a twist that I didn't see coming and it made me rethink everything I had just read/listened to. This is why Jodi Picoult is one of my favorites.

My favorite line from the book: "...there was a tear in the fabric I was made of and he was the only color thread that would match to stitch it back up."


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