Summer Reads

This thriller is a historical novel based on the little-known story of America’s first nursing school. Our dynamic heroine, Una Kelly, is a grifter in New York City during the Gilded Age. Falsely accused of murder, she flees the police, taking refuge in the nursing school at Bellevue Hospital. At first, Una ignores her prim classmates and balks at the doctors’ endless commands. After a few weeks she slowly begins to develop friendships and self-respect. Just as she is getting her footing, Una’s suspicions about a patient’s death force her to choose between self-preservation and exposing her identity to save others. In The Nurses’s Secret, author Amanda Skenandore brings her medical expertise to the forefront as she explores the beginning of modern nursing through the life of a young woman from the slums. This is a compelling novel with a mystery sure to keep you turning the pages. In Love is a memoir of love and loss by novelist Amy Bloom. In this short book, Bloom takes the reader on the emotional journey of helping her husband, Brian Ameche, find a way to end his life after his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. She was reluctant, but he was resolute. He wanted to die on his own terms before the disease robbed him of everything, including his dignity. Bloom weaves their life together before the diagnosis with her search to find an organization and physician willing to help them. By turns funny, witty, and heartbreaking, the story is ultimately uplifting. Long after I finished reading, their story continues to surface in my thoughts. This is a book well worth your time.

Set against the massive earthquake and fire in San Francisco in 1906, this is a story of resilience, friendship, and the power of women. Our heroine,

Sophie Whalen, is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to escape the poverty of New York City that she answers an ad for a mail-order bride. She soon learns that her new husband, widower Martin Hocking, proves to be as aloof as he is handsome. Sophie quickly falls in love with his silent five-year-old daughter, Kat. But her husband’s odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something is not quite right about her new situation. The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner is historical fiction at its best.

The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne is a psychological thriller. Helena Peletier recalls her life as a girl when her father kidnapped her mother and forced them to live in an abandoned cabin in the marsh lands of Michigan’s upper peninsula. After a lifetime of trying to forget her past, Helena is forced to face her demons when her father escapes from prison. This page-turner has been made into a movie. If you decide to read the novel before watching the film, I applaud you. You will not regret it!

is FUN in a book!! Our heroine is a YouTube influencer who flips houses. As the story opens, Maggie has just moved to Kinship, Idaho to take on the biggest project of her career so far — a dilapidated mansion, the Old Campbell place. Her goal is to finish the rehab in four months. Being on a tight schedule, she does not have time for Silas, the sexy laid-back landscaper, and his service schooldropout dog. But Silas knows what he wants and he wants Maggie. This modern rom-com is funny, heartwarming, and steamy. It is the perfect read for a weekend at the lake or cabin. n