New Women's Fiction Books for January #MondayBlogs

by Susan Roberts

There are some really great women's fiction novels coming out this year. Here are 4 that come out this month that you don't want to miss.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Free books were provided for an honest review.

Amanda's Wedding by Jenny Colgan

January 2019; William Morrow Paperback
978-0062449023
audio, ebook, print (336 pages); friendship

As with all Jenny Colgan books, this one will make you laugh out loud. It's a re-issue of one of her older books but it's a lot of fun to read. Longtime friends Melanie and Fran are busy looking for love -- or at least for sex - in all the wrong places. Their evil friend from school has snagged a Scottish lord and is planning a wedding. Will they be invited? Will they act properly if they are? This is a quick fun book and I enjoyed the two girls antics throughout.

Buy Amanda's Wedding at Amazon

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg

January 2019; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
978-1328473011
audio, ebook, print (304 pages)
cultural heritage

When my mom was downsizing to go into a nursing home, she asked all of us what we wanted. One of my main requests was her address book. She not only had addresses of friends and family but birthdates and dates for marriages and years that their children were born - a small history of her friends and family. Her connection with address book is what first made me want to read The Red Address Book and I was thrilled when I won a copy from Bookish Firsts. I definitely enjoyed the novel. Yes, it was sad throughout but I also found it full of love and the acceptance of a well-lived life that was coming to an end.

Doris is 96 years old and has a red address book that her father gave to her as a child. She crosses out each entry when the person dies and at her age there are more people crossed out than not.  She uses the address book to remind herself of her earlier life and adventures and is then writing those down for her niece Jenny. Jenny lives in San Francisco and Doris in Stockholm so Doris doesn't know if they'll see each other again and she wants Jenny to know about her life. I thought that the story of Doris's life was lovely and full of fantastic memories. She traveled from Sweden to Paris to American and then back to Sweden and her life was full of adventures. I found her life quite exciting.

Overall, this is a wonderful but sad book about the memories of an elderly woman as her days on earth are coming to an end. I highly recommend it.

Buy The Red Address Book at Amazon

Home for Wounded Hearts by Ashley Farley

January 2019; Leisure Time Publishing
audio, ebook (255 pages); family life

This new novel takes the reader back into the lives of the Sweeney sisters - mostly Faith. Note - even though it's part of a series, this one can be read as a standalone with no confusion but if you want to read a fantastic series, go ahead and read them all.

Faith has lived through an abusive marriage and is now happily married when she decides to open up a home for women with problems - homelessness, abuse, anger issues, depression, etc. Any woman who needs some help to get back on her feet and become a functioning member of society is welcome. The shelter has just opened and the first women are in residence. Among them is Molly who has been homeless for years but is also hiding an even more hurtful secret, Caroline who has been unable to accept the loss of her son and Jenny a young woman with real anger management issues. As Faith and her staff work to help these women, they are plagued with funding issues along with the women's problems. Following these woman on a day to day basis gave me the whole gamut of emotions - I laughed with them and cried with them but all along I was rooting for their success.

This was a wonderful novel based on women who needed a little help to get back on track again and live fulfilling lives. Ashley Farley has such a wonderful talent for creating characters that these women were very believable.   It was wonderful to visit with the Sweeney family and I hope that there are more books about them in the future.  I'd love to read more about Molly and Caroline and the rest of the group to find out how they are doing

Buy Home for Wounded Hearts at Amazon

Wildflower Heart (The Wildflower House Book 1) by Grace Greene 

January 2019; Lake Union Publishing
978-1542040600
audio, ebook, print (300 pages); friendship

"Nothing is perfect - not the past, not ourselves and not our present."

Grace Greene has brought her readers a heart-wrenching story that is full of despair, hope and recovery. You will feel a gamut of emotions - laughter to tears (I can almost guarantee the tears) but the overall feeling of the novel is healing and resilience.

Kara's life has been filled with loss. Her mother left when she was 14. Her father was a stoic man who worked to take care of her but seldom spent any real time with her. And then after a catastrophic event, she lost even more of her life. As she is recovering, her father decides to buy a dilapidated mansion in the country and she reluctantly decides to move with him to help with the renovations. When she finds the field of wildflowers behind the house, she is stunned and her soul is revived at their beauty. As she tries to find her way back to a new normal with the help of her dad and her best friend, she has new roadblocks to overcome. Will she be able to find a way to overcome her fears and find her way to a fulfilling life?

This is a beautiful story with a well-written character who is learning to recover from pain and loss and find her place in life. I'd like to read more about Kara in future books.

Buy Wildflower Heart 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.

Get even more book news in your inbox, sign up today! Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.