THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

  "Because every good rich person knows: in money and in life, it's winner take all. Even if you have to leave a few bodies behind." Lyla and Graham Herschel live high up in the Hollywood Hills, in a huge glass house that appears as if it could tumble down the canyon anytime. In Eliza Jane Brazier's thriller, GOOD RICH PEOPLE (Berkley), the rich people are anything but good. The Herschel's are bored with their immense wealth so they create a game, you just might die playing. The Herschel's invite self-made success stories to live in their guest house, and proceed to try and ruin them. GOOD RICH PEOPLE takes off with a plot I couldn't have imagined (Thank you, Eliza) and continues to layer plots until everything comes together seamlessly. "In GOOD RICH PEOPLE its hard to see where the game ends, and the outside world begins" Eliza Jane Brazier  is an author, screenwriter, and journalist. She currently lives in California, where she is developing h

  Twelve, Rue des Amants, third floor. It's a beautiful apartment in Paris, but do you want to live there? I don't think so. Lucy Foley's new novel, THE PARIS APARTMENT (WilliamMorrow) does a great job scaring the hell out of readers.  Ben's half sister, Jess, who has been bouncing from one job to the next calls her brother from London to let him know she's coming to Paris. He calls her with his address, Twelve, Rue des Amants, third floor and says he'll meet her when she arrives. But when she does, there's no Ben - anywhere. Jess goes floor to floor in the spooky building asking, the very odd residents if they know anything about the resident on the third floor, but they're vague, mysterious and kind of creepy. Jess' BS radar goes up and she knows something's not right. I read Lucy Foley's novel, THE GUEST LIST, and it turned me on to reading her novels. Foley's characters are so well developed, readers have to appreciate her skill, even

  Lara J. Clarke is used to getting her own way. Motherless at ten and raised by her oft-absent eco-warrior/philanthropist grandfather, she lives the high life afforded by her seemingly bottomless trust fund—swanky downtown Vancouver loft, apartments and villas around the world just a chartered flight away, a passport overflowing with stamps from the chicest hot spots, a closet bursting with catwalk couture, and a spoiled B-list actor boyfriend whose interest in Lara is tied to her exclusive L’Inconnu wallet. That is, until Grandfather Archibald sheds his mortal coil in a very public manner, and Lara’s privileged life is set adrift—and headed for a collision course with the gorgeous, private Thalia Island off the coast of British Columbia. According to the will, Lara will step into the role of Project Administrator, wherein she has one year to fulfill her late grandfather’s dream of a self-sustaining, eco-friendly, family-centered utopia. The stakes are real: fail, and lose access to t

  Imagine giving up your child for adoption because she has been born with profound physical and intellectual disabilities. Diana Kupershmit does just that in her memoir, EMMA'S LAUGH (SheWritesPress) hoping her daughter will get the life she doesn't believe she can provide. In EMMA'S LAUGH, Kupershmit makes choices that many of us can't imagine facing. Readers are taken on a journey of our hearts and minds. Eventually Kupershmit gets Emma back and the lessons in wisdom and love begin.  Kupershmit's memoir is courageous and well written. I respect her honesty and ability to share herself in a less than favorable light. You will be grateful you got the opportunity to experience EMMA'S LAUGH. Diana Kupershmit holds a Master of Social Work degree and works for the Department of Health in the Early Intervention program, a federal entitlement program servicing children birth to three with developmental delays and disabilities. She has published online in the Huffingt

  Deborah K. Shepherd's novel, SO HAPPY TOGETHER (SheWritesPress) starts in the 60s. College student, Caro is all into sex, drugs and rock 'n roll! But then readers are with Caro in 1987, where she's married and the mother of three children in Westport, Connecticut. Her marriage is falling apart, she misses her creative self as a playwright and she can't stop thinking about Peter, who was the love of her life twenty years ago. Caro has a nightmare about Peter and takes it as a sign to drive 1,537 miles to see Peter in North Dakota. This is before Facebook and cellphones, so she doesn't even know if he's alive. Her three children, Greg, Sarah and Caleb are off to camp for two months, so this is her opportunity to leave her husband, Jack. He doesn't even know she leaving until she's gone. SO HAPPY TOGETHER is a book full of life, yearning and the willingness to try. It's about believing in your soul and taking chances to fulfill your hearts desires. Sh

  SECRETS of OUR HOUSE (StMartinsGriffin) by Rea Frey is pitched as a domestic drama thriller. I have to take issue with that. It's more of a family drama about secrets, new and old. Frey tells an interesting, complex and enjoyable story with compelling characters. Desi is a successful Chicago designer. Hoping to heal her marriage to Peter, she designs and builds a huge getaway in the Blue Ridge Mountains of  North Carolina" known as the Black House. It's in the town of River Fall and it's luxurious, sleek, dark and makes an impressive statement to anyone who sees it. Desi, Peter and their daughter, Jules leave Chicago to spend the summer at the Black House before Jules heads off to Columbia in New York City. But that's not what happens. Jules falls in love with a local boy, in spite of her mother's dreams for her to go to college and study biomedical science. At this point Desi's brother, Tommy, a veteran who leeches off his sister's success comes to t

The groom, Digby decides not to show up for his wedding to Merrin, leaving her torn to pieces. Immediately she's humiliated and the gossip of the small Cornish Coastal fishing village her family has lived in for generations. In Amanda Prowse novel, TO LOVE AND BE LOVED (LakeUnionPublishing), Merrin takes a drastic step to leave behind her shame and hopefully find happiness. Merrin creates a new life by putting a hundred plus miles between her and the family and small village she loves. She misses her family and the town, but the hurt is too raw, so she can't return. She gets a good job, starts healing and forgetting about what happened to her. Six years later, tragedy strikes at home and she's forced to return. TO LOVE AND BE LOVED is all about finding one's true self. Merrin is forced to make choices about her future and to take a good look at her past. What does she want for her life? Who does she want in her life? Can she forgive the people guilty of turning her life

  Leo "Big" Chao and his wife, Winnie opened their Americanized Chinese food restaurant thirty-five years ago in the small town of Haven, Wisconsin.   Leo and Winnie have three sons Dagou, Ming and James in Lan Samantha Chang's new novel, THE FAMILY CHAO (WWNorton).   Over the years there have been many changes in the family. Leo is hated by everyone in town for being a narcissist and capitalist who takes great pleasure in screwing people over. He has embraced the promise of American achievement, while exploiting his sons and wife's labor. Winnie has enough so she leaves Leo and becomes a nun at the Spiritual House. Leo's shocked Winnie leaves but he has been having so many affairs it's amazing she hasn't left sooner. Dagou and his father hate the other, but they're very much alike. Dagou has an enhanced sexual appetite. He's been engaged to Katherine for ten years, while having an affair with Brenda. Ming has left Haven for the big city and his