More Great Books to Read this Summer

by Susan Roberts

Here are 3 more to add to your summer reading list.
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The Myth of Perpetual Summer by Susan Crandall

June 2018; Gallery Books; 978-1501172014
audio, ebook, print (368 pages); historical

I enjoy nothing more than a good book about the south and this was one of those books. It was about a dysfunctional family in the 60s in Mississippi. There was a little mystery, a little romance and wonderful characters to love so it was a perfect book to curl up with on a long summer evening.

Tallulah left home at 16 to try to find a more stable life. She hitchhiked to California to start over and never let anyone at home know where she was. When she heard that her brother was in jail for murder, she immediately returned to Mississippi to try to help him. What she finds after 9 years away is that her family is torn apart and the town is still holding a grudge against them. The story is told in two time periods -  during Tallulah's growing up years, when her parents basically ignored their children and left them to take care of themselves, to her grown up years when she tries to find out the real truth about her family and how the secrets and lies destroyed her family.

This was a wonderful book about family and the secrets that keep them apart. It asks the question of whether love can stop the destruction of the family and bring them all together again.

Thanks to Bookish Firsts for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Buy The Myth of Perpetual Summer at Amazon

Magnolia Nights (Magnolia Series #1) by Ashley Farley

September 2017; Leisure Time Books
978-0998274140; ebook, print (292 pages)
women's fiction

Magnolia Nights was another great book by Ashley Farley. It caught my interest on the first page and had me turning pages at a fast pace to read the entire story. The main elements of southern Gothic novels are that they contain decay, outsiders, violence, and are set in the south. That said, this book is Southern Gothic at its best.

The main character, Ellie, is amazed when her grandmother, who she hadn't seen in almost 35 years, leaves her house and her fortune to her. Ellie has few memories of the grandmother that she had last seen at 6 years old and only knows that something happened in her grandmother's house that had kept in her therapy for almost her entire life. When she walks into the house in Charleston, SC, the memories start to come back and when she finds her mother's diaries, the truth of her first six years is revealed.

I loved this book and the characters and the setting. Even though Ellie's story is basically complete by the end of the book, the author leaves us with some unanswered questions. I can only hope that the author has another book in store for us about these characters. Or even better a trilogy!

Buy Magnolia Nights at Amazon

Beyond the Garden (Magnolia Series #2) by Ashley Farley

February 2018; Leisure Time Books
978-0998274164; ebook, print (234 pages)
women's fiction

I decided to spend the day relaxing and reading. Good decision because once I started Beyond the Garden, I couldn't put it down until the last page was read. It was a fantastic sequel and it was great to get back to Charleston with Ellie from Book 1 Magnolia Nights. You could read Beyond the Garden as a stand-alone but parts of it will make more sense if you read it in order.

Ellie and her new husband Julian are restoring the house on the Battery left to her by her grandmother. They are also taking care of the three-year-old twins that her twin sister Lia left behind months earlier. As they make the twins part of the family, they are fearful that her sister will try to claim them again despite the fact that she has mental issues. This book has several plots going on - the murder of Lia's husband, custody of Julian's daughter from his first wife, Ellie's pregnancy plus a little girl who Ellie met at the art class that she was teaching that kept me engrossed in the book.

This was a fantastic sequel and I enjoyed every minute of it. The characters are well written - flaws and all and I really cared about what happened to them. This is a story about love and family - not just family by birth but the family that is made out of love.

Buy Beyond the Garden at Amazon

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling. She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads,  or Twitter.

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