Jencey's Writer's Corner

  Have you ever noticed how choices impact relationships?  In Kristin Harmel’s novel When We Meet Again, the choices of the characters directly affect the story.  It is a story of strong women.   This story is told through the events of World War II.  Did you know that there were prisoner camps that housed enemy prisoners beyond the Japanese?  About the Book:  “Emily Emerson is used to being alone; her dad walked out on the family when she was just a kid, her mom died when she was eighteen, and her beloved grandmother has just passed away as well. But when she’s laid off from her reporting job, she finds herself completely adrift…until the day she receives a beautiful painting of a young woman standing at the edge of a sugarcane field under a violet sky. She recognizes the woman as her grandmother, but the painting arrived with no identification other than a handwritten note saying, “He never stopped loving her...” Curious, Emily begins to do some digg...

What if you were born with an allergy that would not allow you to touch another human being?   And they could not touch you? How would you survive?   How could you participate within society?   In Colleen Oakley’s novel Close Enough to Touch her main character Jubilee Jenkins lives with these issues.   Can one truly understand this journey? Facebook             Twitter                   Instagram “Jubilee Jenkins has a rare condition: She's allergic to human touch. After a nearly fatal accident, she became reclusive, living in the confines of her home for nine years. But after her mother dies, Jubilee is forced to face the world - and the people in it - that she's been hiding from. Jubilee finds safe haven at her local library, where she gets a job. It's there she meets Eric Keegan, a divorced man who recently moved to town with his brilliant, troubled adopted son. Eric is struggl...

It is that time of year again when Mary Alice Monroe sends out a new story into the world.  This year her story is The Summer Guest .  You will see some familiar characters and some new ones.  The story focuses this year on animals escaping a hurricane, or more specifically horses.   Pull up a chair and sit back with a glass of tea and escape to  North Carolina.  Late August is a beautiful time on the Southern coast—the peach trees are ripe, the ocean is warm, and the sweet tea is icy. A perfect time to enjoy the rocking chairs on the porch. But beneath the calm surface bubbles a threat: it’s also peak hurricane season. When a hurricane threatens the coasts of Florida and South Carolina, an eclectic group of evacuees flees for the farm of their friends Grace and Charles Phillips in North Carolina: the Phillips’s daughter Moira and her rescue dogs, famed equestrian Javier Angel de la Cruz, makeup artist Hannah McLain, horse breeder Gerda Klug an...

Thank you to Goodreads and Gallery books for a copy of The Room on Rue Amelie by Kristin Harmel.   I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is the first time that I have had the opportunity to read   a book by Kristin Harmel.   I had heard many good recommendations about her books, in the past.   I love a good historical fiction book that includes mystery and intrigue or more specifically the resistance during World War II in Paris.   Can she make this as exciting as the Nightingale by Kristin Hannah? Kristin Harmel Facebook     Twitter     Instagram Synopsis: When newlywed Ruby Henderson Benoit arrives in Paris in 1939 with her French husband Marcel, she imagines strolling arm in arm along the grand boulevards, awash in the golden afternoon light. But war is looming on the horizon, and as France falls to the Nazis, her marriage begins to splinter, too. Charlotte Dacher is ele...

Thank you to Gallery Books and Mary Alice Monroe for sending me a copy of Beach House Reunion .   I was given this copy in exchange for an honest review. The perfect way to begin the summer is to make another trip to the beach house.   It is three years after the events of the previous book Beach House for Rent which has been reviewed here .   Also I hope that everyone has seen the Beach House movie that so perfectly introduced readers to Lovie’s family and many of the characters we will see in this book. Synopsis: Cara Rutledge returns to her Southern home on the idyllic Isle of Palms. Everything is comfortingly the same, yet each detail is rife with painful memories. Only through reconnecting with family, friends, and the rhythms of the lowcountry can Cara release the hold of the past and open herself to the possibility of a new love, career, and hope for the future. Meanwhile, her niece Linnea, a recent college graduate who doesn’t know where her lif...

Thank you to Gallery Books and Kristy Woodson Harvey for a copy of The Secrets to Southern Charm .   I also have another copy sent by Kristy up for grabs, in a giveaway. Slightly South of Simple is the first book in the Peachtree Bluff series.   I reviewed it here .   The second book in the series is The Secrets to Southern Charm.   This book focuses on the middle sister Sloane.   Then there is also the drama between Ansley and Jack.    Are you ready for some more fun with this clan? Synopsis: Sloane is destined to be with Adam her soul mate.   Their souls are connected and each one can tell when something has happened.    She was given news at that Adam and his unit are missing in action with his unit.   Now it is months later and all she does is mourn Adam and the possibility he may never return.     The rest of the family has picked up the slack for her but will she ever accept her new future with Ad...

This year we get to celebrate Christmas with Mary Alice Monroe . She shares the first Christmas of Taylor and Harper’s with their baby girl Marietta. Mary Alice takes us back to the low country in A Low Country Christmas . She shares the story of Taylor and his first Christmas after coming back from war in Afghanistan. This is book number five in the Summer Girls series. Synopsis: All Miller wants for Christmas is a dog. He knows exactly which one he wants. At home his mom is getting everything together to help prep for Christmas. The only source of stress for the family is the fact that both Miller and Taylor’s father had to park his shrimp boat. What kind of Christmas will it be? The family with great excitement welcomes Taylor home. She expresses this to her son Miller that this is the best Christmas present. When Taylor comes home everything is different. It also causes conflict between the two brothers. He spends most of his time in his room. Until one day a call comes t...

Today I am going to present another new to me author, for the first time on Writer’s Corner. Amy E. Reichert will be visiting with her book The Simplicity of Cider . She is known for writing foodie fiction. I have not read much in this genre. Who does not love a story centered around food? Synopsis: Isaac is taking his son on a road trip where he has to figure out how to tell his son his mother has died. They have driven across country and wind up at the Lund’s apple orchard. Einars Lund is getting on with age and cannot handle the day to day running of the orchard. He also has a secret that has been kept from his daughter Sanna. This secret has changed her life in more ways than one. Sanna refers to her mother as the donor because she has no relationship with her. It is awfully lonely at the Orchard, until Isaac and his son show up to help. Her work with apple cider is very fulfilling! If they only had a buyer for all that merchandise? When an offer is made to sell the orchar...

Kristy Woodson Harvey is a new author for me.  She is also one of the sweetest and extremely personable.  I have said for the last two summers that I would read one of her books. This summer I had the opportunity. Today I am sharing with you Slightly South of Simple by Kristy Woodson Harvey. Synopsis: Caroline Murphy has decided to go back to the one place she detests the most Peachtree Bluff. Her mother moved her and her sisters there when she was a teenager. What is the reason to leave New York? Her husband had a very public affair with a model and it is chronicled on a reality television show Ladies Who Lunch. So Caroline must also bring her sisters Emerson and Sloane home to Peachtree Bluff. Ansley their mother ends up with a full house. Her old flame Jack returns with secrets that impact Ansley’s past. Will she be open to a new future or will she be stuck in the past? What will Caroline decide? My Thoughts: I loved this book! Kristy has a unique voice to...

Are you ready for the first of the beach reads of 2017! Here is the first one on our docket at Writer’s Corner. Thank you to Gallery Books for a copy of Beach House for Rent by Mary Alice Monroe . I was not given any financial compensation for this review. This is the third and final installment of the Beach House series . Readers will get a chance to learn what will happen to Cara’s beach house and her family. Yes, turtles and shore birds are also included in this story. What will the future bring? Synopsis: Cara and Brett are putting the finishing touches on their renovations of the beach house. Her plan is to rent it for the summer for some extra income that she and Brett desperately need.  The perfect opportunity comes from a contact of Palmer’s who needs a place for this summer.  This contact has a daughter who will live there and work all summer.  So the rental agreement is made between Cara and Heather for the summer. Her job for the summer is to sk...

Thank you to Gallery Books and Mary Alice Monroe for a copy of A Low Country Wedding .  This novel was given to me in exchange for an honest review. Who is ready for the summer reading season?  I know I am.  What better way to kick it off than with not one but two weddings.  A Low Country Wedding is the fourth novel in the Summer Girls series.  It follows Summer Girls , Summer Wind , and Summer's End. Synopsis: It is time to plan the weddings for both Harper and Carson.  What about Dora?  She has moved on since the divorce and her relationship and life seem to be moving forward with Devlin.  Will she marry him?  Harper is the owner now of Sea Breeze and Mamaw has moved to the cottage.  Will owning Sea Breeze cause problems between Harper and Tyler?  What about Granny James and her idea of a prenuptial agreement?   Then there is Carson who is coming back from her job.  Will she stay committed to Blake?...

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Gallery books sending me a copy  of Summer Wind for review.  This book is given in exchange for an honest review.  Now to the second book of the Summer Girls series.  When we last left the Summer Girls:  Delphine was headed to the hospital with Carson.  Dora and Harper stayed behind at the house with Mamaw.  Synopsis:  Dora is prepared to move forward with her divorce. She has so much to do until her body tells her otherwise.  Dora winds up in the hospital diagnosed with Broken Heart syndrome.  Her husband Cal soon to be ex-husband wants to bring her back to his condo but without out their son. Dora is determined to do what is right for her autistic son.   She continues to work on getting her life back together.  She decides to let Mamaw and her cousins’ help.  Will she be able to let go of control and relax and take care of herself?  What will happen when a special fr...

Lynn Cullen has come out with her latest novel Twain’s End .    She focuses on the relationship between Mark Twain and Isabel Lyons.   I grew up with the stories of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn which are still read today.   I even toured the city of Hannibal Missouri.    I learned somethings that I didn’t know about Mark Twain in this novel. Synopsis:   Isabel Lyon came from a prosperous family but has suddenly lost all of her wealth.   She enters the world of the domestic help as a governess.   During her job as a governess she meets Samuel Clemens at the Friday night card matches.   Isabel quickly becomes a regular until Mrs. Whitmore the wife of the current position sends her to another family.   Years later she interviews for a job with Samuel Clemens wife as her secretary.   Little did she know that she would be doing more work for Mr. Clemens than his wife?   What will happen in the relationship between Isab...