Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman

My rating: 3.0

This is a short novella about the meaning of life.

I have mixed emotions about this. While I always love Backman's writing style, I don't like short stories.This also felt very disjointed. I am not sure if that is what has me so conflicted or, like others, I felt that this shouldn't have been a standalone novella but put in a collection of short stories. I am just glad that for 96 pages, I didn't pay for it and got it from my library.

Little Broken Things by Nicole Baart

My rating: 4.4

Quinn and her husband are staying in a house directly across the lake from her mother Liz. Quinn gets a text from her estranged sister Nora saying she has something for her. When they meet, Nora drops off a little girl, Lucy, and leaves with no explanation other than to keep her safe.

This unfolded quietly and yet with a lot of suspense. It varies between the four women's perspective of Nora, Quinn, Tiffany and Liz. Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed nosy meddling Liz's character.  I felt that the characters were quite shallow and could have been better developed but, overall this was well told and I will definitely read more by Baart.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

My rating: 4.8

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique listens as Evelyn tells all from her start in the 1950's to her exit in the 1980's along with her flings and marriages along the way.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. With HollyWeird how it is today, this was a throwback to the 'glamour days' which also included a lot of politics and scheming but somehow was more "pure" (wrong word to describe the sordidness but, you hopefully know what I mean). Even though Evelyn is a blonde haired Cuban girl, I couldn't help picturing Liz Taylor throughout the whole book. This tackled some serious topics and handled them beautifully. A quick read that I utterly enjoyed and I had no idea of the ending.

All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

My Rating: 4.4

10 years ago, Nicolette's best friend Corinne went missing. Nic comes back to town to deal with her ailing father when a second girl, Annaleise, goes missing.

This being written backwards - from Day 15 to Day 1 - is either something you will love or hate. I loved it. I felt there could have been better character development but it was definitely enjoyable and kept me on the edge of my seat. I had no idea about the ending which is always great.

The Missing Ones by Patricia Gibney

My rating: 2.0

Detective Lottie Parker is in charge of investigating a string of murders including a woman who is found dead in a cathedral and a young man who is found hanging dead from a tree in his yard. Are they related?  How?  Detective Parker has to figure out how they tie together and the possible motive.

There was so much I didn't like about this book.  For starters, the inconsistencies. Lottie gets extremely upset with her daughter in one scene and in the next gets upset with someone else and the author says "it is not at all like her to be upset"  HUH? Did she forget that Lottie flies off the handle and gets rattled often? There were so many character incongruities that irked me. The characters were very shallow (the bad men were all bad and their personalities felt very superficial). I didn't like any of the characters and found myself wanting it to be over. Wishing I would have stopped reading this but thankfully, it is completely forgettable.

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

My rating: 4.4

Typical Slaughter style, this starts off with a shockingly explosive scene of what happened to the Quinn family in their small rural home. Flash forward almost 30 years and Charlie, the good daughter, has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer. Then, another shocking tragedy unfolds that pulls the whole town into the nightmare.

I loved so many of the characters. As with all Slaughter novels, this isn't for anyone squeamish as she doesn't spare the graphic details. I loved the unexpected ending.