The Summer Book Club by Susan Mallery

As is usual in Mallery books, three women find their matches. Of course, for Paris, that new man is actually an ex-husband. They broke up years ago and he remarried and has a son. But now Jonah's back in town with his son to help while his mother undergoes surgery. While Paris believes they are on their way to being friends, Jonah might have a different idea.

Her best friend Laurel has two daughters and an ex-husband who doesn't see the girls. Her oldest is acting out toward all males. She just needs a friend. A male friend. One who can show that not all men are flakes who can't be counted on.

Last is Cassie. She's just joined the friend group after inheriting some land from a great uncle. She's feeling raw after her brother and sister kicked her out of the nest. While both of her siblings got money, she inherited land. Land that an apparently very hot archaeologist is working on. 

An enjoyable book but the ending was incredibly fast like the author ran out of time and wanted to wrap up the storylines quickly.

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 13, 2024

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

The Happiness Plan by Susan Mallery

Daphne, Heather, and Tori are friends but are in different places in their lives, dealing with different difficulties. Daphne wants to have a baby but her husband is reluctant and is throwing in her face her friends hip with a guy from work. But it's not an affair like he said. Heather broke up with her last boyfriend because she could never love him, but then why is she so jealous of his new relationship? To make her emotional state even harder, she's reconnecting with her father who left when she was a child. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out June 20, 2023

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my

Home Sweet Christmas by Susan Mallery

I wish that either River and Dylan or Camryn and Jake had gotten their own books. Both relationships had some big problems (well, one person in the relationship had Big Problems) that were solved relatively quickly and it would have been nice to see a little more introspection. Also, I really don't love the meddling mother trope. 

Camryn Neff is only in Wishing Tree long enough for her twin sisters to graduate high school and then she's going back to Chicago. At least, that's the plan until Helen Crane picks her as a contender in a project to marry off her son, Jake. The first thing Camryn does is to find Jake and let him know what is going on. He's charmed, she's charmed by him and they decide to have a short-term affair. And there are a lot of little things that crop up that are usually solved within 2-3 pages, just, so many things. 

River Best is new to Wishing Tree. She's really good at computers and very shy having grown up with scoliosis and not really getting to participate in regular life growing up. But she consents to having her name put in for the Snow King, a tradition that has been dormant in Wishing Tree but is being resurrected, purely so that Helen (yes, Jake's mother) can also find a wife for Dylan Tucker, the local craftsman. And they're attracted, but Dylan has a big secret that he is unwilling to share with River, even though she's opened her heart to him.

Three stars

This book came out October 4, 2022

Follows The Christmas Wedding Guest

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery

Three women come together to rent space on the boardwalk. They are strangers to begin with, each with a life that seems relatively perfect for them. But there are currents underneath and all three are about to find their metaphorical boats rocked.

Bree is a bookstore owner who holds her heart close, even for the author who is currently in town. 

Ashley loves her boyfriend and she's ready to take the next step but he doesn't appear to be.

 Mikki is divorced but she is still good friends with her ex. That might be a problem for the man she's dating. 

There is so much sturm and drang in this book. It was a little much for me this time but I think regular readers of Mallery's contemporaries will enjoy it. 

Three stars

This book comes out May 31, 2022

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Summer Getaway by Susan Mallery

As if she didn't have enough fires to put out, Robyn Caldwell is now dealing with the latest of her ex-husband's little peccadilloes. It's not like he's actually her problem to deal with but the things he does do still reflect on her children. Not that her children will notice as they are both dealing with their own lives... sort of. Not in ways that Robyn would expect anyway. But it's Cord's latest decision that has her accepting an invitation from her great-aunt Lillian to get out of town for a bit. Lillian is getting ready for her eventual demise and wants Robyn to come for a visit to finalize her last wishes. Also at the amazing house that Lillian lives in? Mason who will inherit the actual building. He is a good guy and manages to be both manly and respectful which is awesome in a contemporary hero. 

And he mostly deals well with all of the people who follow Robyn out to California from Florida including her eighteen-year-old son who has a plan but refuses to tell her, her twenty-two-year-old daughter who is engaged but Robyn fears it may be too fast, her boss who is embarking on an affair that Robyn is discouraging her from, her ex-husband and his girlfriend, and her daughter's fiance.

The boss storyline didn't need to be in there and the daughter and her fiance's storyline was a little overwrought, otherwise, this is Mallery at her best. 

Four stars

This book come out March 15, 2022

ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

The Christmas Wedding Guest by Susan Mallery

This is a two-for-one romance which means that both relationships are a bit short-changed. In this book are two sister. Reggie Somerville got engaged last year on Friday, party on Saturday, dumped on Sunday. We read about it a lot. But she's back in Wishing Tree to help her parents plan their vow renewal (not enough time spent on this either.) Also back in town? Her high school boyfriend, Toby, who is now the father of an eight-year old. 

Said son is in Reggie's sister's class. Dena, at the ripe old age of 32 has given up on love and has gotten impregnated. She is also the owner of a B&B where Micah Ruiz, a famous musician is staying. He is in town to visit an old bandmate who now owns a Christmas tree farm. Micah is healing from the loss of his wife and unborn child just over a year ago. 

There is so much going on with everyone and their stories that, while this is a fine story, it's not one of Mallery's best since all of the story lines are crammed into one book.

Three stars

This book came out September 28th, 2021

Follows novella Say You'll Stay

Followed by Home Sweet Christmas

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Say You'll Stay by Susan Mallery

Shaye Harper lost both her parents and then discovered that her boyfriend was using her all in a short amount of time. So she did what anyone else who had sold their home to follow said stinker to LA, she took off on a road trip. Now she's in Wishing Tree, Washington wondering why so many people are running around with antlers in July.

Lawson Easley is back in town after being deployed. He is happy to stay in Wishing Tree; it's where he grew up and where he feels at home. Wanting to stay in the small town is the reason his last relationship broke up so, while he's attracted to the stranger, he's feeling cautious. Even when Shaye picks up a job to stay in town, he's not sure it's a relationship that will work out.

Of course, it does (this is a romance) but it's all wrapped up very quickly. It's a novella so we can't expect much but it would have been nice to get a little bit more than the characters suddenly realizing everything would be okay without any more information than that.

Three stars

This novella came out July 1st, 2021

Followed by The Christmas Wedding Guest

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Vineyard at Painted Moon by Susan Mallery

 If you looked at it from the outside, Mackenzie Dienes really does seem to have it all. A job she adores, a handsome husband, and a family that has welcomed this orphan into their ranks. But if you look a little harder, you'll see that there are cracks in the perfection. Yes, she has been working her ass off to develop the family's wines but there always seems to be something keeping her from truly becoming a part of the family legacy. Then there's the fact that she and her husband haven't really been together in years. And she is somewhat doubting whether it was ever truly a love match. 

When she has the chance to reach for her dreams, it threatens to upend her entire life.  

Like many of Mallery's non-series books of late, this book is a little lighter on the romance and more on the plot development. Even with the plot development, the book was a slooooooow build and I kept putting the book down and picking it up again trying to figure out why we needed exactly so much back story. I wish we could have learned more about some of the other characters - the main focus was on Mackenzie with a bit more about her best friend/sister-in-law Stephanie. It did eventually pay off with a satisfying ending.

Three stars
This book comes out February 9th

ARC kindly provided by HQN and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Happily This Christmas by Susan Mallery

 Many a romance has started with the guy next door and this one is no different. Wynn Beauchene has a 14 year old son but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t admire Garrick McCabe, the cop who lives next to her. When he comes to her asking for help with a pregnant 21 year old, Wynn is taken aback,
until she realizes the woman is his daughter. It seems that Garrick and Jolyn were close when she was younger but now their relationship is more strained, especially since Jolyn’s pregnancy has been difficult and that isn’t helped by the fact that her husband is currently deployed.
As Wynn and Garrick spend more time together, attraction starts to grow. Both have been burned in the past though and the upcoming holiday season brings family obligations and outside expectations that they might not be willing to bend to.
A typical Mallory novel: mostly closed doors for the romance; nice character development; an attempt to involve almost everyone from previous stories in the series; just a low-stakes, sugary, and fun read.

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 29th

ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Happily this Christmas by Susan Mallery

 Many a romance has started with the guy next door and this one is no different. Wynn Beauchene has a 14 year old son but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t admire Garrick McCabe, the cop who lives next to her. When he comes to her asking for help with a pregnant 21 year old, Wynn is taken aback, until she realizes the woman is his daughter. It seems that Garrick and Jolyn were close when she was younger but now their relationship is more strained, especially since Jolyn’s pregnancy has been difficult and that isn’t helped by the fact that her husband is currently deployed. 
As Wynn and Garrick spend more time together, attraction starts to grow. Both have been burned in the past though and the upcoming holiday season brings f

amily obligations and outside expectations that they might not be willing to bend to.
A typical Mallory romance: mostly closed doors for the romance; nice character development; an attempt to involve almost everyone from previous stories in the series; just a low-stakes, sugary, and fun read.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out September 29th
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Three and a half stars

The Friendship List by Susan Mallery

Ellen and Unity have been friends... forever. When Ellen got pregnant as a teen, Unity stuck by her. When Unity's husband died, Ellen stuck by her. Now Ellen's son is heading off to college and her life is about to change irrevocably. Meanwhile, Unity is still stuck in the mourning phase for her husband. Everyone gets to grieve differently but Unity's friend's seem to think that three years are enough. Both are fairly young to be in the position of about-to-be-empty-nester and widow so they decide to push each other to live a little by creating a list of things to get themselves out of a rut. Ellen finds herself getting closer to a long-time platonic friend while Unity's moves end up opening her up to her friend's son.
It took me a bit to get into this story. The middle of the story was definitely the better part than either the beginning or the end because that is where we really get to meet Unity and Ellen and they get their chance to grow into the people they are going to be.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out May 26th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Sisters by Choice by Susan Mallery

Sophie, Kristine, and Amber are cousins. Sophie built a kitty toy empire which went up in flames one night so she is coming back to Blackberry Island to rebuild. In doing so, she gets to know her family again (and, as happens in Blackberry Island books, herself as well.)
Kristine is generally happy with her husband Jaxsen and her three boys but, as the boys are getting older, she's getting ready for something more. It's too bad that Jaxsen doesn't seem to want that for her.
Amber got pregnant at 18 and now relies heavily on her daughter, Heather, for everything. Heather is slowly drowning under her mother's needs. Amber has absolutely no idea how to function in the real world. She wants to leave but isn't sure that her mother will survive without her. Now her grandmother is selling the house Heather and Amber are living in and Heather is at the end of her rope.
Sophie wants to grow her business but isn't sure how. It's her whole life and she is in charge of every part of it to the point that nothing else is important to her. She doesn't want to get married again but is happy to jump into a physical relationship with the local tai chi teacher. But when it turns out that he might have a brain, Sophie isn't as sure about continuing a relationship with him.
And I wish we had seen more of the relationship building between the cousins, between Kristine and her husband, and between Sophie and Dugan. This book didn't feel like it went as deep into the female friendships that other books in this series have.

Three stars
This book came out February 11th
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin-Mira and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Meant to Be Yours by Susan Mallery

Renee Grothen doesn't especially want to get married, even though she's a wedding coordinator. Instead, she's willing to indulge in some fun and then go her separate ways from the guy. At least that's what she's telling herself. And the guy she happens to have her eye on is Jasper Dembenski, local and author extraordinaire.
Jasper is just coming off a book tour which he did in an RV. On his last stop, he discovered a starving dog and adopted it. He's always thought that his military past made him unsuitable to have a normal life but there are others who would disagree with him, even his ex-flame Wynn who is a friend of Renee's (that complication is handled in a very adult manner, nicely done.) Renee isn't going to be his forever after but she's definitely hot and the fact that she's helping him get past his writer's block is an added bonus.
A really nice addition to the Happily Inc. series. I'm excited to read Wynn's story (hopefully soon!)

Four stars
Follows Not Quite Over You
This book came out October 22nd
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Summer of Sunshine and Margot by Susan Mallery

Sunshine and Margot are twins who are both at pivotal moments in their lives. They were raised by a grandmother, a beauty pageant consultant, and neither were able to live up to her standards. Sunshine escaped into a series of unsuitable boyfriends while Margot made just one, very unfortunate choice. Now Sunshine is the nanny to an adorable little boy and his widower father while Margo is an etiquette expert. Margot's latest client is an eccentric actress who wants to learn how to navigate in her soon-to-be husband's world of being an ambassador. They're staying at the home of the actress's son, a scholar who specializes in old manuscripts.
This is a lovely story of two sisters. If you are looking for a romance novel, this isn't one. The HEA is sort of wedged in at the end and I felt like the book suffered for it.

Three stars
This book comes out June 11
ARC provided by publisher and Edelweiss and NetGalley
Opinions provided are my own

The Summer of Sunshine and Margot by Susan Mallery

Sunshine and Margot are twins who are both at pivotal moments in their lives. They were raised by a grandmother, a beauty pageant consultant, and neither were able to live up to her standards. Sunshine escaped into a series of unsuitable boyfriends while Margot made just one, very unfortunate choice. Now Sunshine is the nanny to an adorable little boy and his widower father while Margo is an etiquette expert. Margot's latest client is an eccentric actress who wants to learn how to navigate in her soon-to-be husband's world of being an ambassador. They're staying at the home of the actress's son, a scholar who specializes in old manuscripts.
This is a lovely story of two sisters. If you are looking for a romance novel, this isn't one. The HEA is sort of wedged in at the end and I felt like the book suffered for it.

Three stars
This book comes out June 11
ARC provided by publisher and Edelweiss
Opinions provided are my own

California Girls by Susan Mallery

Three sisters: the youngest, Ali, who is about to get married, those oldest, Finola, who has the perfect marriage, and the middle, Zennie, who is not really interested in dating. All of them are dealing with personal crises and milestone. Ali's fiancé's brother shows up. The fiancé doesn't especially want to get married but he's not going to tell her himself. Finola's, who is a TV personality, husband shows up half an hour before she's going on air to tell her that he's been having an affair. Zennie has a best friend who can't get pregnant, would she mind being the surrogate?

I generally like Ms. Mallery's non-series books. This had some really big themes that I thought were handled sensitively and well. But there were a couple of things that brought the book down for me. One was the views on Finola's marriage. We were just told that she accepted blame for it going south but we never really saw how she played into it. A big part of her ending was that she realized what part she played but... it felt forced; more tell than show. And I wish we had seen more of Zennie's romance. It was just tacked on at the end.

Three stars

This book comes out February 26 

ARC kindly provided by Harlequin-Mira and NetGalley

Not Quite Over You by Susan Mallery

When they were eighteen, Silver Tesdale and Drew Levato had had a flaming affair. Then she broke up with him and sent him to college. Right after that, she discovered she was pregnant. Both decided they were too young and gave the baby up for adoption.
Twelve years later, Silver is trying to get a loan from the bank that Drew works in. But his aunt takes a special delight in turning her down. Then Drew swoops in and buys the Airstreams she had her eye on. He wants to get back into her life and figures that becoming a business partner is the way to go. Silver agrees, but only to be business partners. Drew is willing to start with that. And he's also ready to do the work that he needs in order to prove that he's grown. Of course, he'll also have to find out about the secret Silver has kept for so many years...
There was maybe a little too much drama in this book but it was, overall, a fast, fun, and fluffy read.

Three and a half stars
This book came out October 27
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Opinions are my own
Followed by Meant to be Yours

Why Not Tonight by Susan Mallery

In earlier Happily Inc. books, we met Ronan Mitchell and his brothers. They were a holdover from the Fool's Gold series where we learned that Ronan and his twin... weren't... twins that is. Ronan was, in fact, the offspring of his father's affair with another woman. Since he found out, he's been drawing more and more within himself.
Natlie Kaleta isn't too impressed with his brooding artistic nature. She'd revel in a life where she'd be able to just do her art rather than having to cobble together jobs so that she can do a bit here and there. When she's trapped at his house after a mudslide, she's surprised by his welcoming nature and the time they spend together lets them work to know each other a little more...
Another fine book in the Happily Inc. series. I didn't totally buy Natalie and Ronan's romance but overall a very nice addition to the series.

Three stars
This book comes out September 18
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Sisters Like Us by Susan Mallery

I really, really like Ms. Mallery's (somewhat) standalone novels. She's able to inject more emotion and deeper characterization into these longer stories. We really get to know Harper Szymanski, an overworked divorcee, and her teenage daughter. Harper is just trying to keep herself together. After working for years to get her husband through podiatry school, he dumped her. Now she lives in the house with Becca. Harper's mother, Bunny, lives in a garage apartment and seems to just hang around shaming both Harper and her sister, Stacey, because neither are 1950s housewives.
Stacey is an amazing scientist working on helping people with MS. She's a fully-confident woman who just turned forty. And, oh yeah, she's sort of pregnang. And mostly in denial. See, she's got this perfect mother and this perfect sister who both know instintively how to mother the people around them. Stacey, just doesn't feel it.
Harper doesn't really feel perfect either. Her business isn't what she planned and she can't even pick out an assistant who can actually help her (cameos from the previous book!). Because she's spending so much time with trying to keep food in the house and a roof over her daughter's head, she's losing track of what her daughter's actually doing. And Becca has her own set of problems...
I really liked this book. I didn't completely buy that Becca turned around so fast and didn't really get her connection with Ashton but I mostly liked the Lucas/Harper story line (except for the Big Misunderstanding which seemed just sort of stuck in so it wouldn't be super-smooth.)

Four stars
This book comes out January 23
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley
Follows A Million Little Things

You Say It First by Susan Mallery

This was a charming offshoot of the Fool's Gold series. I didn't have the frustration from that series that SO MANY people recurred in the stories. Don't get me wrong, there is a LOT of sequel-bait in this book but they were woven in well, and there is a nice, built-in explanation for why we'd see some of these people again.
It seems in the 1960s, our heroine's grandfather, wanting to help the town's economy, made up a story about a stagecoach breaking down and the load of women falling in love with the men in town and opting to build the town now known as Happily Inc. Pallas Saunders knows it's a load bull but she still enjoys her role in town providing weddings in a box (or, at least I think she does. All her friends tell her so but she doesn't seem convinced). She needs help though. She's just barely breaking even and she's trying to figure out how to change that. One way is to restore the exquisite wooden panels that divide some of her rooms.
That's where Nick Mitchell comes in. We saw two of his brothers get married in the Fool's Gold series but he's not going to fall into the same trap. He's seen the marriage between his father and mother and seen how much passion can lead you to pain. So, though he's interested in Pallas (and in restoring her panels), he's not going to fall in love.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out August 22
Followed by Second Chance Girl