I found myself fascinated yet confused throughout the entire story. On the one hand, it differed from anything I’ve read, which I found intriguing. On the other hand, my interest came and went, and I continuously wondered what the point of it all was. I found myself bored on more than one occasion, and just when I thought I’d give up, there’d be yet another twist that would pull me back in, and I kept reading.

Now that it’s all said and done, I still have no idea how I feel about this book. All I know is that it is either a stroke of genius or a waste of my energy. I genuinely have no idea which category it falls into, but it was a journey.

I started and stopped this book several times. There were times that I said aloud, "what did I read?" And I mean this in the best way. Its twisty and a great book club read.

The beginning felt clunky and went way too fast. It was confusing and the plot eventually ran away from itself.

Wow. I had no expectations when I started this book. I wasn't sure if it was for me at first, but it got more interesting as I kept going. Lulu and Cree are the same person that happen to live in 2 different realms of reality. They meet after Cree has an accident, and decide to switch and see how the other one lives.

This story will eventually take you on a fast paced, emotional roller coaster ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It will keep you guessing and in a way have you wondering. And by the time I got to the end, I was shooketh. This truly turned out to be such a great and interesting read.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review of my own thoughts and opinions.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Black Wren Press LLC for this advance copy of The Things We Bring to the Table. I did not find the writing pleasing to read as well I found the writing choppy. It was okay but was not enjoyable to read.

I saw a post about this book from another avid reader on instagram. I had to request it from netgalley. This book was definitely written as describe by other readers. A page turner made you want more every page. A story of two women each wanting each others lives, until tragedy happens. Once you get indulged within the story you want to know what's going to happen. Marvelous ending with a good twist. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone looking to read some suspense and a thriller all in one.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

The cover immediately piqued my interest in this book. I’ve never read a book like this and it was an experience. It took me a while to understand the parallel universe but around 60% into the book I was all in.

I felt for Cree because she has been a partner and mom but she feels that something is missing. She’s given up her dream of being a performer. When she has a terrible accident she has an opportunity to experience the, “what if” that she’s been seeking.

In the alternate world, things are not as they seem and Lulu definitely led Cree on. Even I was bamboozled because I did not expect so much turmoil, secrets, and drama to unfold. This just shows that the grass isn’t always greener. I feel like Cree did not handle things correctly; communication lacked in her marriage. I would have liked to see more of her life after coming back from the accident. There was an important twist that was glazed over. I think Cree learned a valuable lesson from her experiences. This was a good read, I liked the authors way of telling the story and thinking outside the box.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I've never read anything by Rod Palmer, but I was pleasantly surprised.
This story is about Cree and Russ, who has money. Things were all good, up until they got married, and now that they have married the relationship has changed between the two, so she really wants to give up on everything.
I like the fast pace of the story, and it kept me wanting to read more.

3.5/5 = This story presented a very interesting premise and for the most part was well executed. There were a few parts that seemed inconsistent with the rest of the story and parts that left me with unanswered questions. Overall, it was an engaging, fast paced, suspenseful, unique story.

I really wanted to like this story. The cover caught my attention and the description had me so intrigued but I didn't get much into all the story lines. The author introduced really great themes and drama but too much for a "small" book, which isn't a bad thing, it just isn't much for me. Thank you for the opportunity of reading it.

This was a great read, it was fast, interesting and mysterious. I really liked the idea of wanting your life to change and then realising that what you had wasn’t that bad to start with. The grass isn’t always greener etc.

I’ll definitely be looking for more books from this author as I enjoyed the style.

This book kept me wanting more! Mysterious and drama filled? Right up my alley! Switching lives and it’s just one thing after another. I’ve definitely become of a fan of his work!

Thank you to The Black Wren Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first time reading a book by Rod Palmer. This story is about Cree. After 10 years of marriage to Russ the magic has fizzled leaving Cree to try to figure out what went wrong in their relationship. She encounters herself from a parallel universe, Lulu McQueen, who is what she would be if she continues to follow her passion.

Lulu trades places with Cree . Unbeknownst to Cree, Lulu switches places to try to avoid criminal charges, financial whoas, and a threat on her life.

Cree finds out the grass isn’t greener on the other side and secrets can destroy everything. What’s done in the dark always comes to the light.

The story starts slow but it was an intriguing read. I would love to read more from this author in the future.

This fast-paced, mysterious, and drama-filled book kept me on my toes always wanting more and not knowing how the story would end. Cree, the main character, is noticing increased issues in her marriage unsure how and when everything started going wrong. After a car accident, Cree meets Lulu known to be herself in another dimension. After Cree is forced to switch lives with Lulu, she soon realizes through hardships, secrets, and lies that things are not always greener on the other side.

The Things We Bring To The Table was my first book from the author Ron Palmer. I’ll definitely be looking at picking up another book from this author the next time I go to the book store.

I’m rating this book a 4.5! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Black Wren Press for the ARC. You can pick up this book as early as November 28th, 2022.

I really wanted to like this story. The cover grabbed me--I absolutely love it--and the description had me so intrigued but I got lost...literally. I felt like I could not keep up with the story lines. The author introduced really great themes and drama with more development or possibly a simpler concept they could have really hit home for me. This would have probably been a better Netflix series or something.

The really gorgeous cover sucked me in, but this was... very not for me. To put it mildly. I've been told that if I don't have something nice to say, not to say anything, so I'll be following that motto here.

I was so disappointed because the premise was very interesting and intriguing to me. However, I find this book very slow-paced for my liking and thus, bored me out all throughout. A lot of paragraphs and sentences in here added nothing to the plot and I wished were just cut out or told in a concise way instead.

When I think of women'sfiction, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels. This is a perfect book to snuggle up with on any day.

Wow! This is such an original story, with vivid characters, and a plot that had me staying up late to finish it.
The writing style is distinctive and has some moments of stunning description - Palmer is particularly good at helping you to visualise gestures as characters speak. The characters really grew on me, and the split-narrative is done very cleverly.
There were a couple of things that didn’t work for me, but on the whole they’re small - like Cree’s charity being named after Icarus, which seemed like an odd decision. There are also quite a number of grammatical/punctuation/typo errors, which I assume would be corrected for the final manuscript.
But these are little things, and on the whole this is an original and vibrant voice, and I’ll look out for his other work!