The Mermaid's Secret by Katie Schickel

Standalone
288 p.
Publisher: Forge Books
Published: 6/14/16
Source: From publisher for review

Life on land is suffocating for Jess Creary, who wastes her summers flipping burgers for tourists on a fishing boat off her quaint resort island home off the coast of Maine. After all, her older sister Kay died in a boating accident two years ago, her mother has disappeared, and her father isn't exactly dealing with things so well. Surfing and the handsome Captain Matthew are about the only bright spots in her life. 

Then, on her twenty-third birthday, Jess catches the perfect wave--a wave that transforms her into a mermaid. Under the sea, a startlingly beautiful, dark place, Jess is reborn into a confident, powerful predator with superhuman strength --finally she is someone to be reckoned with. Meanwhile, back on land, Jess's relationship with Captain Matthew heats up, and so does her search for justice for Kay. 

Jess has thirty days to choose between land and sea; legs and fins; her humanity and her freedom. Who could ignore the freedom of the sea? Yet, the ocean is a dark, wild, lonely place. Is this a gift or a curse? Will Jess choose family and love, forgiveness and truth, or will she be seduced by the wild call of the sparkling sea forever?

My thoughts:

Okay, I'm a mermaid fan. I admit it. So, when this book found it's way into my hands, I knew I was going to read it. Not all mermaid books have been a success for me, but it is still a mythological creature we have stayed in the shallows and not gone much into the deep end (see what I did there? I crack myself up sometimes...). Yea, I still want more books with this mythos and this one had a paranormal, chick lit, magical realism vibe to it.

This was mostly about a family who endured a tragedy and how they all dealt with the death of Jess's sister. Her father became overprotective, her mother took off, and Jess refused to reach for her future and become less of herself. This is more of Jess's journey and for a relatively short novel, it does a pretty good job of it.

There were times when Jess annoyed me. She was a bit on the whiney side and was too easily overcome by anger. It made sense but at the same time you still wanted her to wake up and stop hurting herself more than the person she accuses of her sister's death. It might have been easier to deal with if we had spent more time with her and knew the girl she was before the tragedy but honestly it was a minor niggle that wasn't that hard to swallow. She does grow in the end and there is also a romance brewing in the background that helps with her transformation. I think it was the acceptance of those around her that led to her biggest growth.

I give this book 4 stars. While it isn't the best mermaid story out there, those that like chick lit and magical realism might like this twist in the storyline. I wanted to know more about some of the secondary characters but in the end was satisfied with what I got in this book.

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Standalone
400 p.
Publisher: Crown
Published: 6/23/15
Source: Blogging for Books for review

“There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.”

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.

My thoughts:

This book sounded like a mix of magical realism with books! How could I resist. I had to review this one. :)

The book did have the magical realism aspect. That kind of etherial quality to it that makes unusual things happen. We are to marvel at it and move on as if it should be an expected part of life. In fact, it reminded me of Chocolat where Vianne can tell their favorite chocolate or what sweetness to life was missing from the person visiting her shoppe. It is the same here. Perdu can tell you what book you need in your life by a few questions and intuition. He is an literary apothecary which brings books to those who are in need. However, who helps the helper when it is needed?

The book's adventure really starts when it is Perdu's time to go forth and find something through books and beyond books to find what he has lost. This is a story about forgiveness, loss, redemption, and finding your own HEA. In fact, this story has more than one HEA.

I think my only complaint was that it at times felt a bit uneven in the pacing and that there were spots where I felt it jumped a bit in the story. It may have been just me, but I wonder since I do believe this is a translated version of the book, Das Lavendelzimmer, the original title.

I give this book 3 1/2 stars and recommend it to those that enjoy magical realism and moving on in life.

First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

Series: Waverley Family #2
304 p.
Publisher: St. Martin Press
Published: 1/20/15
Source: NetGalley and publisher for review

It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store. 

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections—rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds—are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts. 

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby— a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has. 

Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke? 

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

My thoughts:
It has been quite a while since I read Garden Spells. You do not have to have read that book to read this one, but I recommend it because it was such a good book. However, if you only have a chance to read this one, do not worry you will not be lost.

To me, Sarah Addison Allen is the author I go to for magical realism. I was curious to read more of the Waverley magic. I was not disappointed with this book. I enjoy magical realism as it seems to bring the extraordinary out of being "different" and entertains me more than most chick lit out there. In this book there is also an added theme running through the Waverley women and girls. The theme of finding oneself and accepting who you are despite your fears. It was a theme I quite enjoyed.

I give this book 4 1/2 stars. While it didn't have quite the impact that Garden Spells had on me it still wove it's magic about me and I enjoyed myself with the Waverleys. I recommend it to those that enjoy magical realism.

The Night Garden by Lisa Van Allen

Standalone
352 p.
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: Oct. 7, 2014
Source: Edelweiss and publisher for review

Nestled in the bucolic town of Green Valley in upstate New York, the Pennywort farm appears ordinary, yet at its center lies something remarkable: a wild maze of colorful gardens that reaches beyond the imagination. Local legend says that a visitor can gain answers to life’s most difficult problems simply by walking through its lush corridors. 

Yet the labyrinth has never helped Olivia Pennywort, the garden’s beautiful and enigmatic caretaker. She has spent her entire life on her family’s land, harboring a secret that forces her to keep everyone at arm’s length. But when her childhood best friend, Sam Van Winkle, returns to the valley, Olivia begins to question her safe, isolated world and wonders if she at last has the courage to let someone in. As she and Sam reconnect, Olivia faces a difficult question: Is the garden maze that she has nurtured all of her life a safe haven or a prison?

My thoughts:
I do like magical realism so when I saw this one up for review I jumped at the chance to read it. It does have everything we come to expect from this genre: magic without logic, romance, obstacle to overcome that has be precipitated by magic and cured by it as well. So, it is safe to say that I enjoyed most of the book. The part I had a bit of trouble with is the end.

While the ending was not horrible at all. In fact, it did make sense. What I didn't like about it was that it felt too open. It didn't have enough details. Did Olivia solve her problem? You assume so but there is no concrete evidence. I suspect it was made to feel mysterious so you are with the rest of the town wondering what is going on, but because you were so into the detail of Olivia's world it just didn't feel right. It was like we got kicked out of the inner circle. Since I'm an "ending girl" this did color my view of the rest of the book.

I give this book 3 1/2 stars. Although I did have a few problems with the ending, I did enjoy the rest of my time amongst the magical plants and maze. I also enjoyed the main as well as the side characters. I recommend it to those that enjoy magical realism.