Must-read women’s fiction: Books by Molly Harper, Karen White, Emily Giffin, Karma Brown and more
By: Leigh Davis | July 26, 2018 12:00 am
So little time — so many books! This month we have double coverage of women’s fiction recommendations with both June and July books. So let’s dive in!
Little Big Love by Katy Regan
What it’s about:
Ten-year-old Zac Hutchinson collects facts: Octopuses have three hearts, Usain Bolt is the fastest man on earth.But no one will tell him the one thing he wants to know most: who his father is and where he went.
When Zac’s mother, Juliet, inadvertently admits that his dad is the only man she’s ever loved, Zac decides he is going to find him and deliver his mom the happily ever after she deserves.
But Liam Jones left for a reason, and as Zac searches for clues of his father, Juliet begins to rebuild what shattered on the day that was at once the happiest and most heartbreaking of her life.
Told through the eyes of Zac, Juliet, and grandfather Mick, Little Big Love is a layered, heartfelt, utterly satisfying story about family, love, and the secrets that can define who we are.
The right stuff: Zac is adorable! Complex family relationship is compelling, and point of view creates an ideal story. A winner!
The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland
What it’s about:
Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never, ever show you.
Into her hiding place – the bookstore where she works — come a poet, a lover, and three suspicious deliveries.
Someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets?
The right stuff: Marketed as a bibliophile delight, and it is true! Loveday will capture your heart as you become engrossed in the story of her guarding her own heart — from disappointment and betrayal. Wonderful backdrop romance as her Prince Charming helps break down the walls.
The Lido by Libby Page
What it’s about:
Rosemary Peterson has lived in Brixton, London, all her life but everything is changing.
The library where she used to work has closed. The family grocery store has become a trendy bar. And now the lido, an outdoor pool where she’s swum daily since its opening, is threatened with closure by a local housing developer. It was at the lido that Rosemary escaped the devastation of World War II; here she fell in love with her husband, George; here she found community during her marriage and since George’s death.
Twentysomething Kate Matthews has moved to Brixton and feels desperately alone. A once promising writer, she now covers forgettable stories for her local paper. That is, until she’s assigned to write about the lido’s closing. Soon Kate’s portrait of the pool focuses on a singular woman: Rosemary. And as Rosemary slowly opens up to Kate, both women are nourished and transformed in ways they never thought possible.
The right stuff: This book has been compared to Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove because of its heartwarming theme of multigenerational relationships. It’s a marvelous flashback romance and features a developing one. There’s also a Goliath theme — a little guy against big business.
Ain’t She a Peach by Molly Harper
What it’s about:
An Atlanta ex-cop comes to sleepy Lake Sackett, Georgia, seeking peace and quiet—but he hasn’t bargained on falling for Frankie, the cutest coroner he’s ever met.
Frankie McCready talks to dead people. Not like a ghost whisperer or anything—but it seems rude to embalm them and not at least say hello.
Fortunately, at the McCready Family Funeral Home & Bait Shop, Frankie’s eccentricities fit right in. Lake Sackett’s embalmer and county coroner, Frankie’s goth styling and passion for nerd culture mean she’s not your typical Southern girl, but the McCreadys are hardly your typical Southern family.
The right stuff: The funeral home and bait shop combo is pure quirkiness, and it works! Frankie’s eccentricity is too droll. Plenty of romance. Southern idiosyncrasies at their most amusing.
The Late Bloomers’ Club by Louise Miller
What it’s about:
Nora, the owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, is perfectly happy serving up apple cider donuts, coffee, and eggs-any-way-you-like-em to her regulars, and she takes great pleasure in knowing exactly what’s “the usual.” But her life is soon shaken when she discovers she and her free-spirited, younger sister Kit stand to inherit the home and land of the town’s beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson.
Kit, an aspiring—and broke—filmmaker thinks her problems are solved when she and Nora find out Peggy was in the process of selling the land to a big-box developer before her death. The people of Guthrie are divided—some want the opportunities the development will bring, while others are staunchly against any change—and they aren’t afraid to leave their opinions with their tips.
Time is running out, and the sisters need to make a decision soon. But Nora isn’t quite ready to let go of the land, complete with a charming farmhouse, an ancient apple orchard and the clues to a secret life that no one knew Peggy had. Troubled by the conflicting needs of the town, and confused by her growing feelings towards Elliot, the big-box developer’s rep, Nora throws herself into solving the one problem that everyone in town can agree on—finding Peggy’s missing dog, Freckles.
The right stuff: Miller does a wonderful job of showcasing the complex relationships we have with our siblings and how to lose the judgment and accept differences. Great sense of community, too!
The Lost Queen of Crocker County by Elizabeth Leiknes
What it’s about:
Crocker County crowns a new Corn Queen every year, but Jane Willow’s the one you would remember. She can’t forget Iowa, either. Even though she fled to LA to become a film critic years ago, home was always there behind her.
But when a family tragedy happens, she’s forced to drive back to Crocker County. The rolling farmlands can’t much hide the things she left behind: the best friend she abandoned who now runs a meatloaf hotline, the childhood front porch that sits hauntingly empty, and that fiasco of a Corn Fest that spun her life in a different direction.
Before Jane can escape her past a second time, disaster strikes, and she will have to find a way to right her mistakes and save herself from her regrets. An unflinchingly love letter to the Midwest that unfolds through a celebration of movies, this ferociously endearing novel brings home the saving grace of second chances.
The right stuff: Pure delight for film buffs. Riveting story of small-town girl transformed into mocking, skeptical sophisticate until she returns home and finds the courage to forgive herself and “make it right.” Strong multifaceted heroine. Wonderful “Believe So” theme.
All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
What it’s about:
Nina Browning is living the good life after marrying into Nashville’s elite. More recently, her husband made a fortune selling his tech business, and their adored son has been accepted to Princeton.
Yet sometimes the middle-class small-town girl in Nina wonders if she’s strayed from the person she once was.
Tom Volpe is a single dad working multiple jobs while struggling to raise his headstrong daughter, Lyla. His road has been lonely, long, and hard, but he finally starts to relax after Lyla earns a scholarship to Windsor Academy, Nashville’s most prestigious private school.
Amid so much wealth and privilege, Lyla doesn’t always fit in—and her overprotective father doesn’t help—but in most ways, she’s a typical teenaged girl, happy and thriving.
Then, one photograph, snapped in a drunken moment at a party, changes everything. As the image spreads like wildfire, the Windsor community is instantly polarized, buzzing with controversy and assigning blame.
At the heart of the lies and scandal, Tom, Nina, and Lyla are forced together—all questioning their closest relationships, asking themselves who they really are, and searching for the courage to live a life of true meaning.
The right stuff: Giffin combines today’s relevant themes of boys will be boys, the impact of social media and the MeToo movement into a compelling read.
Dreams of Falling by Karen White
What it’s about:
On the banks of the North Santee River stands a moss-draped oak that was once entrusted with the dreams of three young girls. Into the tree’s trunk, they placed their greatest hopes, written on ribbons, for safekeeping—including the most important one: Friends forever, come what may.
But life can waylay the best of intentions….
Nine years ago, a humiliated Larkin Lanier fled Georgetown, South Carolina, knowing she could never go back. But when she finds out that her mother has disappeared, she realizes she has no choice but to return to the place she both loves and dreads—and to the family and friends who never stopped wishing for her to come home.
Ivy, Larkin’s mother, is discovered badly injured and unconscious in the burned-out wreckage of her ancestral plantation home. No one knows why Ivy was there, but as Larkin digs for answers, she uncovers secrets kept for nearly fifty years—whispers of love, sacrifice, and betrayal—that lead back to three girls on the brink of womanhood who found their friendship tested in the most heartbreaking ways.
The right stuff: This one is everything you’ve come to expect from a Karen White book. Strong female friendships, a second chance at love and a great family mystery! (See an excerpt on HEA from Dreams of Falling.)
The Life Lucy Knew by Karma Brown
What it’s about:
After hitting her head, Lucy Sparks awakens in the hospital to a shocking revelation: the man she’s known and loved for years—the man she recently married—is not actually her husband. In fact, they haven’t even spoken since their breakup four years earlier. The happily-ever-after she remembers in vivid detail—right down to the dress she wore to their wedding—is only one example of what her doctors call a false memory: recollections Lucy’s mind made up to fill in the blanks from the coma.
Her psychologist explains the condition as honest lying, because while Lucy’s memories are false, they still feel incredibly real. Now she has no idea which memories she can trust—a devastating experience not only for Lucy, but also for her family, friends and especially her devoted boyfriend, Matt, whom Lucy remembers merely as a work colleague.
When the life Lucy believes she had slams against the reality she’s been living for the past four years, she must make a difficult choice about which life she wants to lead, and who she really is.
The right stuff: An imaginative (and horrifying) plot of memories that are not truly memories. Strong romance and a true happy ending!
Leigh Davis is a former contributor to Heroes and Heartbreakers. When she is not reading, she’s usually outside throwing balls to her insatiable dogs. She loves hearing and talking about great books. You can connect with her on Twitter and Goodreads.
MORE ON HEA: See more posts by Leigh
Elizabeth Leiknes, Emily Giffin, Karen White, Karma Brown, Kate Regan, Libby Page, Louise Miller, Molly Harper, Stephanie Butland, women's fiction, Recommended reads, Top stories

I read this book in between my intense thrillers and I enjoyed it pleasantly. How can a book reviewer not like a book with a bookshop in its title?!
Loveday Cardew loves books more than people as books don't care. And Nathan's entry into her shop and into her life changed her and she is forced to delve into her past.
The story by Stephanie Butland has dual timeline, which reveals the layers of Loveday's life. She is well supported by secondary characters which makes this book a pleasant read with slightly grayer undertones.

I really enjoyed "The Lost for Words Bookshop. People who loved "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine," and "The Music Room," will also enjoy Butland's book. I certainly did. I enjoyed the character development and Archie was a favorite character of mine. Butland revealed enough, but not too much, of the mystery behind Loveday to keep the reader engaged and turning pages. The pacing was well-done.

I hope this is made into a movie, I would love to also see it on screen.

"I like books because they don't care."

Every so often I like to mix it up. I generally stick to my psychological thrillers and murder mysteries, but after a while, all that gloom can get to you and storylines can become repetitive and you just need a break. The Lost for Words Bookshop was that break for me, and it was an excellent choice. It was exactly what I needed to step away and center myself.

Loveday Cardew is a lover a books... people... well... not many have a place inside her world, not like the words found in the books she reads. Words that can eventually make their way permanently onto her skin if they're lucky. But people... they often seem more complicated, and men, who had time for that?

I'd read enough fiction to know that relationships were:

- well disguised as the best thing ever
- complicated
- doomed to failure, most of the time
- usually comprised of a winner and a loser

Sometimes however, fate has a different plan. When a young man, Nathan comes into the shop to claim a lost poetry book, the chemistry is undeniable. Try as she might, Loveday cannot deny there's something there. There's just one problem. Loveday has a past that's she's not willing to share. Only her past doesn't seem to want to stay there. When books from Loveday's past, books with meaning are brought into the bookshop where she works she begins to question everything.

The novel is told from Loveday's POV, but from alternating timelines. As we're taken into the past, slowly, we begin to truly understand this troubled soul. Loveday didn't always have such a unfavorable outlook on people and the world around her, but when the trust of an innocent young mind is compromised well, that does something to a person.

The essence of this novel is in the words of text we read everyday to the characters that impact our lives. I recently had a discussion with a co-worker about the "friends" in my life. I jokingly said "Oh my friends come and go, each day, week, month, I find new ones, some are unsavory, some are witty and full of banter, some you want to invite over to dinner, others are downright psychotic." He looked at me completely puzzled and said "What are you talking about?" and I replied "They are characters from the books I read, they are my only friends at times." It's the truth though. There are so many characters that we have all come across over the years that just jump right off the pages that we wish we could snap our fingers and make them appear. To find a place for them in our everyday lives. I've got to say, Loveday is one of those characters. She became my friend for a brief point in time while she shared her story. Until we meet again Loveday!

I want to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Stephanie Butland for allowing me the chance to read this novel in exchange for my review. A wonderfully delightful read!

In The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland, the writer crafts a love story for bibliophiles. This is a story that honors the love of books. Protagonist Loveday Cardew prefers books to people, which many readers will empathize with. As the book unfolds, readers will peel back the layers on Loveday and learn more about her and why she leans on books so heavily. The secondary characters in this book are well-developed and engaging. All in all, this book is one to check out.

I could not put this book down! It's a fantastic read!

Loveday owns a bookshop and enjoys her quiet life among the books. Until her mysterious past begins to haunt her. It's hard to review this without posting spoilers so I'll just say that I found the characters to be very real and compelling. I can't wait for more of Ms. Butland's work!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Well what is better than reading a book that speaks to you like a book and has so many references of books that is so easily relatable to? THE LOST FOR WORDS BOOKSHOP!

THE LOST FOR WORDS BOOKSHOP by STEPHANIE BUTLAND is a wonderfully charming, light, moving, and endearing tale that is set in the greatest place ever, a bookshop.

Any books that have any indication that it is going to be about a bookstore or books, I’m in, no questions asked. They are by far one of my favourite settings! Also, I have to mention that beautiful cover!

STEPHANIE BUTLAND delivers an absolutely lovely, appealing, and well-written read here that was more character-driven than plot-driven with wonderful, relatable and likeable characters. Our quirky and snarky main character is Loveday (adorable name right?) and she is known to love her books more than people. My husband has accused me of that many a times! LOL

This isn’t a fast-paced read by no means, it’s slow-moving and might have lost me a few times but as we follow along Loveday’s journey and learning the mystery behind her traumatic past, I found myself totally intrigued and couldn’t help but fall in love and identify with Loveday’s character.

This book made me smile and was an absolute comfort for me to read! I truly enjoyed the escape into Loveday’s life and found this to be an entertaining, quick and easy read. Would recommend!

This was a Sister Read that I read along with my dear friend, Kris. Thank you so much, Kris for reading and discussing this one with me. You made it that much more fun!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Stephanie Butland for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Unfortunately another one in my run of bad luck books. I hate to review things i didn't enjoy but this is definitely one of them. Nothing connected me to the story and it was just a bit dull. For a long time it was just like i was pulling teeth waiting for something to happen. Not for me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book cover first got my attention. Then I saw it was about a book shop which specializes in used books and it has a quirky main character who loves to just sit in a corner and read. What is not to like? Loveday Cardew is young girl of 25 who has been working at the bookshop since she was 15. We learn of course about her love of old books and she often gets the first line of a book she has loved tattooed on her body somewhere. Books are her companion and friend.

Over time we see more and know that something very horrible happened to her when she was a child and she uses books and the safety of the bookshop to hide from the life she thinks she escaped from and no one knows anything about as it carries a lot of shame for her. Things begin to fall apart when some books begin turning up that remind her of her well hidden past. She has a lot of fear of anyone really knowing her or where she came from.

It's a beautiful story and I liked Loveday and Archie (the bookshop owner) very much. Loveday has a lot of growing to do and many emotions to untangle. She is kind and compassionate. She tries to open herself up to dating but it's hard because she can't trust anyone. I really felt for her and rooted for her in her struggles. She's a great character.

4 stars! I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Many thanks to Thomas Dunne Books, NetGalley, and Stephanie Butland for a digital copy to review.

A book set in my favorite place? I really enjoyed how this book was written with care and touched on many human emotions. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Loveday Cardew prefers books to people but someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets?

A book about books, what's not to like? I found it too 'quirky' and disjointed. When the word emo-goth appeared I knew I truly had nothing in common with this book. This isn't exactly a YA novel but I would classify it somewhere in that region.

2.75☆ because I just couldn't connect with the book

The best possible way I can describe this book to you is that it's a book for book lovers. We get a lot of book references and a protagonist that both works in a book shop and has meaningful lines from stories she's enjoyed tattooed on her body. If I didn't already have several tattoos, I might steal that idea! It is a very charming story, but darker than the book cover and even the blurb makes it look. It's still a really enjoyable read, but more emotional than I was expecting. It's a book that I read slowly to savor more instead of devouring. I won't go too deeply into the story, because I think the blurb provided is purposefully vague. It's a story to immerse yourself into and can be very surprising at times. Four and a half stars from me for its beautiful charm, wonderful details, and intriguing story.

Loveday Cardew is most comfortable lost among the stacks of the wonderful book shop she has been lucky enough to work at for years. She's closest to the owner, a charming older man with endless stories almost too fantastic to be true. She certainly prefers books to people. Books are a comfort. A place to escape to. People simply cannot be trusted, a fact that has been proven to her again and again. This is the reason she clutches her books close to her chest and keeps almost every single person in her life at arm's length. She's been through a lot, and keeps a lot of secrets from everyone... but someone out there is ready to shine a bright light on her past.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and St. Martin's Press, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

I adored the story and the characters so much! It's such a lovely tale with memorable characters that feel like your friends and the progression of the plot is not too slow which was enjoyable. I loved watching each individual character grow into themselves.

This book shows exactly what I picture working in a book store to be like. It made me feel cozy while I was reading it.

The characters we’re jouable, if not a bit annoying at times.

Loveday had tragedy in her childhood and as a result loved her job at the Lost for Words Bookshop...... She could lose herself in books and much preferred this to people..... but what about the poet Nathan can he get through to her...... and where are the books relating to her childhood coming from?

An enjoyable book a bit slow but made up for by the great quirky characters

Loveday is a woman who seems to have her life together, however she hides things well. She believes her past is well hidden. Her job at the bookshop is her saving grace. When books from her past start showing up her life unravels.
If you want a good read that really makes you appreciate life this is the book. Loveday has a sad upbringing, but she perseveres.


** I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Loveday Cardew has been working at a bookshop in York, England, for about 10 years. It’s been her only job; she started there in the middle of her teens and has been there ever since. Since she first set foot there on a school trip, the owner, Archie, has taken her under his wing. Loveday, however, would prefer not to be under anyone’s wing, though she does enjoy working with Archie. Since a tragedy when she was 9, she lived in foster care, and the event that put her there made her someone her peers stared at and talked about. So she’s kept to herself, and she likes it that way.

Meeting Nathan Avebury upsets her carefully managed life. Despite herself, Loveday gets drawn into a relationship with him. And she’s happy. But she still holds important parts of herself back, like that childhood tragedy no one (she thinks) in York knows about.

The other change to her ordered life is the arrival at three different times of familiar books — ones she knows from her childhood. Are these just a coincidence, or has someone found out about her past, or has someone from her past surfaced? Loveday eventually is forced to talk about what she’d do anything to stay quiet about.

This is a lovely book; it’s set in a bookshop and has a few quirky characters (Archie is one who’s impossible not to find entertaining), but it’s mostly about Loveday and her past, about heartbreaks and secrets and coming to terms with painful truths. Loveday has created a hard-to-crack shell around herself, and she has a few really wonderful people around her; as a reader, you just want her to give in already and let them in, to stop putting up walls. Just as the story slowly reveals the details about her life and difficult past, Loveday very slowly lets some parts of herself open up. But the last bit of shell is the toughest, and it’s the most painful for her to let fall away. That is when the story is the sweetest.

You can't tell a book from its cover. You have to open it, read it, digest it and then tell if you like it or not. The same could be said about Loveday, a 25 year old who works in a bookshop that sells second hand books. You could call her anti-social, you could call her quiet, but you don't know her, You don't know her past, her hidden secrets and what has made her the way she is. What you really don't know is the pages of her past and like a book, in between covers, she has secrets that have shaped her and you have to delve into those pages to know what lies there...and as you read the awful truth is revealed.
Therein lies the story. A bit slow for my taste, but nonetheless a good read. However, what I liked about the novel, aside from the quirky characters, was Loveday's sharp mind, her wit. When I started this novel, I wasn't sure I was going to get into it, but then I got hooked and couldn't put it down. I needed to know her secrets, I had to find out who she really is.
My thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

(IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO PICK THIS BOOK BACK UP BUT I'M SO GLAD THAT I DID !)

The first quarter or so of The Lost for Words Bookshop hit me like a sloth. As in, it was just a l i t t l e on the slow side of the spectrum for me. I think it was due to a mixture of my general shrugs attitude regarding the author's writing and the mildly long period of time in which nothing really happened
––––but then I hit a reading breakthrough.

It turned out really well for me in the end, I think. Loveday's story was nice and mellow for the most part, and the rest swept me away like the tide. Quirky characters can be either make it or break it, and Loveday was pretty cool. She was written with this simple sense of displacement, for lack of a better word. It was like she was yet to be hardened by life, regardless of the fact that she of all people should be twisted and bent by the world at the present time.

The whole bookstore aspect and bibliophiles unite thing going on was wonderful. Book clubs, poetry sharing, and working in a bookstore. Seeing as the target audience is people who are into books, it's basically a reader magnet.

Something decently interesting about this book to me was its narration, with this different mix between internal and external. Loveday was a fairly thought-orientated character, but there was enough going on around her that it wasn't overly internal monologue-filled, so it was still nice to read as a whole and thankfully not overdone.

As mentioned earlier, pacing was kind of an issue for me, and it took a while for me to even vaguely understand where the plot could possibly be. This may or may not be because I'm used to the fast-pacedness of YA. Nonetheless, the characters and their dynamics kept me intrigued and got me back on track after I picked the book back up again.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable and rewarding read. It has some pretty good themes, nice past-present timelines, and quite the unique premise.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the fascinating ARC!

Beautiful cover that I was immediately drawn to. Plus, it's a book about books! What could be better?!

Loveday Cardew tattoos the quotes from her favorite books all over her body. She prefers books to people and her employment in a used bookstore suits her perfectly. However, Loveday has a secret and traumatic past and someone has begun sending her suspicious items related to these memories that she has tried to suppress.

I wanted to love this story. I really did. However, I had difficulty connecting to the characters and found the story to move slowly. I loved reading quotes from my favorite books throughout the novel, though.