Patty Pick is “No Place I’d Rather Be” by Cathy Lamb

This was such a good book! It had it all - love, mystery, suspense, and family relationships. All the parts of a great read are found within these 402 pages. You will love the quirky characters, or as I refer to them, my sisters by another mother. 

Olivia Martindale ran away and left her home, family and husband in Montana, but she is forced to return. She needs help and she is bringing two little girls, who she desperately wants to adopt, with her. She is struggling to retain guardianship of the girls, whose grandmother left them in her hands to protect them from their jailed, abusive, drug-addicted mother.

Olivia’s family has missed her, her mother, sister and grandmother are excited to have her back. This crazy tribe of strong women work together to figure life out as best they can. I loved the way they used cake and cooking therapy to solve the problem of the moment. They teach us in quiet ways and in loud-in-your-face ways how to handle tough issues like abuse, mental illness and autism. This book will make you cry, laugh, and keep reading until the end. 

With her return home, Olivia also has to face her estranged husband, Jace. She is still in love with him and the very sight of him drives her crazy, but the reason she left will break your heart. While staying in her grandparents cabin, she discovers an ancient cookbook that belongs to her grandmother and reveals amazing and shocking parts of her grandmother's history. Read this book to find out what happens. You will be glad you did
and you will be singing it's praise! A solid 5 stars!

Patty Pick for 11/2/17 is "Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate

Lisa Wingate has another deeply emotional novel based on true stories of illegally taken children. In Memphis during the later days of the Depression until as late as the 1950's, a ruthless operator named Georgia Tann had the whole system in her pocket. She had children stolen from front porches, off the street, and even convinced poor women giving birth that their children had died. With her network of Tennessee Children's Home Society locations, she schemed to place poor children into rich homes for a price. The parents and children did not see the money but Georgia lined her pockets with this blood money paid for by the children. Many of the children did not make it to adoption since the homes were in such poor conditions and there were predators at many turns. 

Rill Foss along her sisters and brother are taken from their houseboat, while their parents were at the hospital giving birth to their next twin set of siblings. After being placed in the home, Rill tries to keep them together and alive, but they are soon torn apart and scattered to different homes or worse. This is their story, but really it is an example of the tales of these children stolen from their families.

In present day South Carolina, Avery Stafford is being groomed to take her father's and family's long-standing place in politics. She seems to have it all with beauty, wealth, power and a gorgeous fiancee. Her grandmother is struggling with Alzheimers and has been moved to an assisted living facility. While visiting her grandmothers house to help, Avery encounters a waiting taxi. She then embarks an a journey to uncover her family's past, the past no one knows. 

This book was one of the best I've read this year! A solid 5 Stars!! The history is riveting and the story lines flow back and forth through time. You will remember this one long after you turn the last page. Our book club had a long and spirited discussion about the choice each character made and the tragedy of the whole time period in history. 

Pattys Pick for 9/14/17 is "The Marsh King's Daughter" by Karen Dionne

The Marsh King's Daughter, Helena, is a product of her birth between a sadistic rapist who kidnapped her mother when she was a teenager and the mother she never understood until it is too late. Helena loves her father but the realization that he does not love her or her mother all most comes too late. He only loves himself. Helena knows that she has to escape before it's too late. 

At the beginning of each chapter Karen Dionne gives us a small piece of the Hans Christian Andersen tale. We meet the adult version of Helena. We find out that she is married with children and has a husband who does not know her story. We find out how she got to this point in her life and how she plans to go forward until word of her father's escape from prison reaches her. 

Her father, Jacob Holbrook, has escaped prison after murdering two guards and she knows he is heading her way. She is determined to catch him and turn him in. He taught her everything she knows about the marsh, how to track and hunt. She can shoot and she's not afraid to track him and bring him in. Now her whole life just blew up because of him. Her husband did not know her story and now she has two precious daughters to protect. She will do anything to keep them safe from her father. 

We follow Helena on the trail of her father with only her tracking abilities,  her guns, 
her faithful dog, Rambo, and her will to survive and put him back behind bars. She has no idea what she is up against. This is the suspenseful and well-written novel that is "The Marsh King's Daughter" by Karen Dionne. Needless to say there are many twists and turns for you discover as Helena and her mother's story unwinds through the chapters. Read this one with the light on and quickly!! 4.5 Stars!

Patty Pick for 8/3/17 is "Little Black Lies" by Sandra Block

Zoe Goldman has secrets, some she doesn't even know she has. The nightmares have returned with the pressure of residency. Zoe is a resident in the psych ward of a hospital, working her way to being a Psychiatrist. Her mother's death haunts her and she feels guilty wanting to know the details, since her adopted mom is dealing with dementia. Discussing that night always upsets her mom and Zoe knows that time is running out to find out the answers she wants to know about her real mother and the night she died. Her dreams make it seem like the answers are so close, but even with therapy Zoe can not discover what is right there in her memory and unlock the secrets to the past.

As the plot twist and turns, many secrets and lies will be revealed to Zoe. Zoe lives with her step-brother in the town where she grew up. She is separated from her longterm boyfriend, Jean Luc since they finished college and went their separate ways. Even though she can spend more time with her adopted mom, being back in Buffalo has made her nightmares return. The nightmares about the night her real mother died. Her 

brother is worried about her.  

One of her patients, Sofia, is trying to win her own freedom from her past. Sofia, a violent killer who has been locked away since she was a teenager, has been on her best behaviour for a while. Zoe's boss wants to set her free, but there's something about Sofia that does not set well with Zoe. All the while, Zoe is dealing with her own personal issues, like ADHD, and since her return all of her inner demons seem to be torturing her. With Zoe's family and the characters she works with at the hospital, you are going to like them all. Well most of them. Don't let the cover fool you, prepare to stay up and finish this one like I did. 

I know that the story of Zoe Goldman has been turned into a trilogy by the talented author, Sandra Block. I can't wait to read the next two as I loved this one and Zoe. You will, too but beware there are many scary twists and turns coming your way. "The Girl Without A Name" and the soon-to-be released, "The Secret Room" will give us more time with Zoe. I can't wait! All 5 Stars are shining or rather burning for "Little Black Lies"!

Patty Pick for June 9, 2017 is "The Choices We Make" by Karma Brown

This book will make you laugh, cry, and question the choices you make and have made. Sometimes it's hard to see them from another person's perspective and sometimes they have unintended consequences. There are quite a few choices in this book, but the main one involves one's couple quest to have a child. When Hannah hit a classmate to protect another girl, Kate, from one boy's terrible behavior, she and Kate became life-long friends. They have always been there to help each other, but now there is nothing that Kate can do to help.  

Hannah and Ben have tried everything. They are at the end of their rope. Hannah wants to try to find a surrogate to carry a child but Ben is not ready to give up on having a child of their own. Kate and her husband, David, are watching their best friends fall apart. Kate and David have the perfect family with two little girls, a perfect house and the life that their friends want desperately.  

Then after struggling for years for their dream of a family, they don't know how they are even going on as a couple. Kate decides she wants to give Hannah and Ben the ultimate gift. It takes David some thought to agree, but he is onboard when he realizes that Kate is making the hardest choice. Kate will become the surrogate mother for their child. As the pregnancy advances, Hannah and Ben become more and more involved in the choices for the baby. But all choices do not turn out the way we think and they all have consequences. Karma Brown writes about this struggle in great detail and accuracy. This book will move you. 4.5 Stars!

Patty Pick for Groundhog Day is "The Opposite of Everyone" by Joshilyn Jackson

"The Opposite of Everyone" by Joshilyn Jackson has it all. Smart female main character, dangerous but good-hearted love interest, crazy mother, and siblings coming out of the woodwork. This book by Joshilyn Jackson has her signature dysfunctional family storyline, but with the twist of smart girl making it in the law field. Because one thing that Paula Vauss is, is very smart. 

Paula Vauss seems to have it all. She is a successful divorce attorney practicing in Atlanta with two of her long-time partners. Even though, she was born into and grew up in strange circumstances, she seems in control of her life. That is, until an unknown sibling shows up in the lobby of her building and her whole facade starts to crumble. 

Paula was born in Alabama and spent most of her younger years traveling from state to state and boyfriend to boyfriend with her mother, Kai. Kai goes with the flow and re-invents herself for each flame until she gets tired of them, and moves on, taking then Kali Jai with her. During one such stop, Paula made a decision that will change both of their lives forever. Paula spends the rest of this part of her life, trying to get back to her mother as close as they used to be with each other. But as you know, you can never go back. 

Paula thinks she has made her decision, changed her life, and moved on. She is about to find out that she is not done with her mother. She never really was. Now she is in a race to find her mother before she can't, and Paula has to come to terms with her own life and what she wants for herself. All of this is going on as she breaks up with her boyfriend, meets her unknown brother, and is in the middle of a nasty divorce case. 

Somehow Joshilyn Jackson manages to pull all these strings together and weave us a very good tale from beginning to end. You will remember Paula's strength and read along during the journey she takes to find her mother. Another fabulous Joshilyn Jackson story that will test your heartstrings. A solid read.