Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank

(Author Photo by Debbie Zammit)

While vacationing on the Isle of Palms, Adam and Eliza Stanley strike up a friendship with Carl and Eve Landers—something Eliza didn’t expect to happen, given that Adam and Eve were once childhood sweethearts. Despite an awkward beginning marked by Adam acting like a besotted school boy with Eve, as well as Carl’s shameless flirting with Eliza, the unlikely friends spent the next two decades vacationing together with their families. But when two of them are found in a compromising situation, the bonds of couples’ long friendship—not to mention their marriages—are tested as never before.

Love Unleashed by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh

I commented on Instagram last night that Love Unleashed will make dog lovers smile. I smiled often as I read this book, and gushed over how cute all the dogs looked in their photos. But I was often overwhelmed with sadness when I read about the hard lives some of these animals had before finding their forever homes. That sadness was brief, however, because the bulk of each story focused on leading up to their happy endings.

The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White

Sometimes the most selfless thing you can do for the people you love most… is to leave.

Katie Mack had a family once—her husband Cal and a beautiful baby daughter named Maisie whom she loved more than anything in this world. Katie was terrified she would somehow harm Maisie, and her mind plagued her with horrifying images of the many ways it could happen. When she finally admitted these frightening thoughts to her husband, he turned away from her. Distraught, Katie did the only thing she could to keep her beloved daughter safe… she left, and later gave up her parental rights to Maisie.

It’s Messy by Amanda de Cadenet

 

Apparently, I’ve been living under a rock, because I’d never heard of Amanda de Cadenet until I read this book. (Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say I’ve been living with my nose permanently stuck in one book after another.)

I made a decision earlier this year to broaden my reading horizons and read books I wouldn’t ordinarily have read in the past. This is the sort of book that, in past years, I would have been curious about and maybe even skimmed over a few pages before putting it back on the shelf. As a general rule, I’m not one to read essay collections and I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where one of the main topics is feminism, either. This book hit the spot twice over on broadening my reading horizons, so obviously I had to read it.

My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward by Mark Lukach

My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward gives readers an intimate and often heartbreaking look into the lives of author Mark Lukach and his wife, Giulia. In their third year of marriage, Giulia suffered a psychotic break. Delusional and suicidal, she was confined to a psych ward for twenty three days before she was allowed to return home. In time, she recovered, and they welcomed their son, Jonah, into the world. Sadly, Giulia would suffer two more psychotic episodes over the next few years, and had to be confined to the psych ward, again, each time.