Book Review Tuesday: Sunset Beach, The Player, Watching Glass Shatter @JacqBiggar @jamescudney4

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Warm and cozy window seat with cushions and a opened book, light through vintage shutters, rustic style home decor. Small cat on window seat, along with coffee cup by pillow, Words Book Review Tuesday superimposed over imageHappy almost June and welcome to summer! Yeah, I get that summer doesn’t “officially” happen until June 21st, but Memorial Day has always been the threshold to summer fun, including the key opening of east coast beaches and amusement parks. Since I live in a tourist town, I think of Memorial Day as being the gateway to summer. Even though COVID-19 has put a damper on festivities, I still feel the change.

Let it be known that I FREAKING LOVE SUMMER!

Yes, I appreciate all of the seasons, but give me my pool, my Kindle (or a fat paperback), a grill, and swimming weather, and I will pass each day in sheer bliss.

And speaking of Kindles, I have several reviews to share. I read these books in March and April during shelter-in-place time. My county is finally moving to yellow phase this Friday, but I am already back at work. I won’t be able to share all the books I read while sheltering, but I would like to share some standouts. As Jackie Gleason was fond of saying, and away we go . . .

Book cover for sunset beach by Jacquie Biggar shows young couple embrace in front of ocean at sunsetSunset Beach
by Jacquie Biggar

Trace and Mona are both single parents with teenage daughters and history that goes back to their dating years in high school. Trace made the mistake of cheating on Mona with Sally, now his ex-wife. In a small town, paths cross and gossip flies. When Mona decides to run for Mayor against Trace, life becomes even more complicated, especially as these two struggle to navigate underlying feelings for each other.

This is a sweet romance with engaging characters set in a charming town. Of special mention, Trace and Mona’s daughters, Bailey and Amber, provide a secondary plot line that shines every bit as brightly as the first. The ending is superb, providing the perfect HEA you’d expect from a story like this. A winner all the way around.

5 STARS

AMAZON LINK
Genre: Romance > Parenting Teenagers  

Book cover for The Player b Jacquie Biggar shows orange tabby cat and man and woman on opposing sides, from feet to knees, hockey skates in foregroundThe Player
by Jacquie Biggar

The tables get turned in this tale of a superstar male hockey player plagued by a female stalker. Roy Donaldson has everything going for him, except an ex-girlfriend who doesn’t know how to let go. When she does everything she can to cast him in a bad light, a public relations representative steps in to repair the unjust damage to his image.

Enter Patience Kennedy, the single daughter in a family with four brothers who knows zilch about sports, but plenty about people. When the two retreat to Roy’s home in the woods to work on strategy, sparks fly. Actually, sparks fly from the first meeting between these two, and it’s fun to watch their attraction run from frustration to simmer to bloom. Toss in a stray orange tabby and you’ve got a feel-good formula destined to bring an HEA. But reaching that point presents a path twined with danger and suspense.

Jacquie Biggar mixes all the right ingredients, even touching on mental illness and family relations both good and bad. The author’s breezy writing, witty observations, and dialogue are a pleasure to read. Many times, I stopped to marvel at a particular turn of phrase or reread a section for sheer enjoyment. I’ve enjoyed everything Ms. Biggar has written. She is a skilled author who knows her craft, but The Player may just be my favorite to date. What a feel-good gem!

5 STARS

AMAZON LINK
Genre: Amateur Sleuth Mysteries > Hockey

Book cover for Watching Glass Shatter by James J. Cudney shows broken glass with large hole in center, shatter lines forking outward from holeWatching Glass Shatter
by James J. Cudney

Olivia Glass has the ideal life with five wonderful grown sons, grandchildren, and a successful husband. It all begins to crumble when her husband, Ben, dies in an automobile accident. Worse than facing life without him, is the letter he left behind, explaining that one of their children isn’t really hers. When her baby was born dead, Ben switched the infant with a different child the birth mother wanted to adopt out. But which of her five sons?

Determined to unearth the truth before sharing it with her children, Olivia decides to visit each son in their home. This is where Cudney weaves a tangled web, family drama at its best. As the book progresses, Olivia is confronted by shock after shock, realizing each son has kept a personal secret from her and others. Five brothers, five secrets.

Each brother is thoroughly fleshed out with his own particular strengths and weakness. Olivia’s character becomes clear through her actions and how others see and interact with her. There are explosive moments, heart wrenching moments, touching moments, splashes of humor. As a reader, you’ll feel frustration, melancholy, joy and contentment. The author deftly pulls multiple heartstrings in this tale of a family imploding, only to come out stronger in the end. And let’s not forget, that among these five men, one is not really Olivia’s son.

A thoroughly satisfying read.

5 STARS

AMAZON LINK
Genre:  Fiction > Family Drama

Hopefully, I’ve sparked your interest with one of these reviews. I’ve got plenty more to share, but in the meantime, I wish you happy reading!

60 thoughts on “Book Review Tuesday: Sunset Beach, The Player, Watching Glass Shatter @JacqBiggar @jamescudney4”

  4. I loved The Player and have the other two on my Kindle. I can’t believe we are heading into summer. Floating in the pool sounds like a perfect way to read:)

    Liked by 4 people

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  5. Jacquie always delivers. I have these on my Kindle and can’t wait to get to them.

    James’s book is waiting on my Kindle, too, and I can’t wait to read it. (I liked what I heard so much, I bought it once then tried to buy it again!)

    Great reviews, Mae.

    Liked by 5 people

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    • Olivia is indeed that, which makes for a refreshing read. Add in the viewpoints of all the brothers, and he wrote a winner. I really enjoyed all three of these. My shelter-in-place reading produced some true gems 🙂

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  8. I am in love with the cover of Sunset Beach! ❤️ All 3 books sound wonderful. Great reviews!
    On a holiday note – I heard so many complaints about Ocean City being unsafely crowded 🤦🏻‍♀️. People so want to get back to normal.

    Liked by 4 people

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  10. Mae,

    Summer will be here soon. Exciting! I’m thrilled to be here with Jacquie, she’s an amazing writer, like you. Thank you so much for sharing your thought son Watching Glass Shatter. You’ve been so kind, and I appreciate it. I am thrilled to send the sequel out this summer for beta reading too. 🙂

    Have a wonderful day!

    J

    Liked by 3 people

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    • Summer is so close I can taste it Jay, LOL! Thanks for keeping me entertained with Watching Glass Shatter while I was dealing with shelter-in-place. You and Jacquie wrote wonderful books.Thanks for your kind words, too. 🙂
      Summer is an excellent time for the sequel release. Pool read! 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

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  12. Two HEA romances had to be fun during shelter in place. And glad Watching Glass Shatter had the family come out stronger in the end. I’m betting Olivia found that all five boys WERE her sons, even though one wasn’t her biological child. Great reviews!

    Liked by 2 people

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    • I love how you worded that about the boys, Judi. Olivia was a strong, dominating character and to see her growth through the book (as well as that of the boys) was so rewarding. In the respect that you mentioned, yes, they were all her sons!

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  17. I hope summer works out for your area. You were hit hard and I hope they don’t rush things like the news showed this weekend. Books are a great way to pass the lockdown and it sounds like you read a bunch of them.

    Liked by 3 people

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    • Books were my saving grace during shelter-in-place, Craig. I really enjoyed my reading time and Jacquie and Jay delivered awesome stories.

      Hershey is still on the downside of tourists with everything being closed (unlike the east coast beaches) but I don’t know how long that is going to last. It feels weird to drive by Hershey Park and Chocolate World on my way to work each morning and see everything shut down. On the flip side, traffic is a lot better, LOL!

      Liked by 2 people

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  19. Great reviews, Mae, and all sound like interesting books to me. I especially enjoy tangled family drama, so Watching Glass Shatter is super intriguing to me.

    Wish I could join you in your excitement about summer. I’m dreading it. We’ve been having days in the mid-90s already, and by next month, triple digits will probably kick in here and there. I was so hoping to finish my gardening before having to stay inside in the a/c all day, but I’m too far behind for that to be realistic. I read a beautiful book some years back (Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen) wherein one of the characters gardened by moonlight. I’m thinking of trying it, one of these days. 😀 But in Florida, winter gardening is the very best! Now that, I look forward to every year.

    I do wish you wonderful days floating around in your pool with your Kindle! I’ll be indoors with mine, but we can still compare notes as we read, and that’s the most important thing! 😀 ❤

    Liked by 2 people

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    • So glad you stopped by to check out my reviews, Marica. All three stories were excellent and worthy of reading,

      Your comment about moonlight gardening reminds me of a scene I wrote a gazillion years ago in a fantasy novel I wrote (part of a trilogy) where one of the characters was doing moon gardening. I always thought that was a freaking awesome concept.

      Our weather has already taken a turn to the cool side and what was supposed to be mid 80s is now going to be mid 70s plus rain for the rest of the week. Someday soon, I hope to take my Kindle to the pool!

      Liked by 2 people

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    • It is a cool cover. Actually, I was gone on all three of these for different reasons….the beach sunset, that adorable kitten, and then the drama of Jay’s cover. Thanks for checking them out, Jan!

      Liked by 2 people

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