Literary Friday: A Fun Romance and a Thriller

 

Happy Literary Friday, My Lovelies!

It's August, and I only have a month left to finish my 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge!  (I only committed to reading 15, though.)  This post features books eight and nine, so basically I have the month of August to read six books.  It's going to be a very busy month;  if I make it to twelve I'll be happy!

Today I'm sharing the last books I read during July:  The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson and Middle of the Night by Riley Sager.  Middle of the Night was our July Book Club selection, and I'll review it first.

According to Goodreads:

In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.

My Review:

I thought that this was a unique choice for book club because we don't often read mystery/thrillers.  I enjoy reading genre fiction, though, and I'd heard of Riley Sager before because one of my favorite librarians has read his books and likes them.  In my opinion, this is not a typical thriller because the action is much slower.  This I liked because it allows the reader to get to know the main character Ethan much better.  His character broke my heart: I truly hoped Ethan would find closure and heal.  Nothing he tries helps him sleep, and although he tries therapy and follows his therapists' advice, he's running on fumes from lack of sleep and anxiety from a recurring dream related to his best friend and neighbor's abduction.

The setting of the novel is an upper middle class subdivision in Princeton, New Jersey.  The setting also involves a many acre wood with a mysterious research institute behind the cul de sac, and the mystery of what happened there over the decades lends an almost gothic element to the story's atmosphere.  Ethan's father is a retired Princeton professor, and he and Ethan's mother have relocated to Florida.  They encourage Ethan to live in his former childhood home because he's recently estranged from his wife.  There has been little turnover in his neighborhood, and most of his childhood friends have either returned to the neighborhood or have never left in the first place.  When strange occurrences happen that include details only missing Billy knew about, Ethan becomes more anxious and paranoid.  Definitely a slow burn plot point wise, the subtleties of the clues and the build-up to the conclusion at the end maintained my attention and curiosity.  There are definitely unexpected plot twists and a very satisfying ending I was not expecting at all.  

In book club reviews were very mixed with this one.  However, f you enjoy mystery/thrillers that aren't too violent or scary and focus more on character development, then you should enjoy Middle of the Night.

According to Goodreads

A professional baseball player and his heckler prove that true love is worth going to bat for.

Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.

Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.

Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?

My Review

Full disclosure:  I.  Love.  Baseball!  I'm a very loyal Chicago Cubs fan, and I rarely miss watching or at least listening to their games.  My daughter recommended this book to me because she thought I'd love it, and she was correct.  It is a very cute romance!

Obviously the "meet cute" is hilarious because Daphne gets tipsy at a baseball game and heckles Chris when he has a not very successful at-bat.  The horrifying part is that she makes him cry, and we know that there's NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!!!   Daphne is mortified because it's one of the top stories on Sports Center, and both her brother and sister-in-law work for the team.  She gets a taste of her own medicine because fans heckle her right back, and it's hard for her to go anywhere unrecognized because of the proliferation of the story.  In a strange twist of fate, Daphne is hired for the season to replace her sister-in-law who's on bedrest, and her first assignment is to interview Chris and make amends.  It doesn't go very well, but the two decide to act professionally for the rest of the season.

Daphne, to her credit, does try to apologize to Chris via Instagram under her user name "Daffie."  They become close virtual friends and develop deep feeling for each other.  They begin texting, and Daphne never reveals who she is to him.  Their messaging allows for both to share their feelings, and each helps the other with emotional trauma.  In real life, Daphne and Chris secretly begin dating, but her aloofness and the fact that she won't share her phone number with him discourages Chris.   The third act break-up is a real doozy, and the reader can certainly see it coming.  However this is a romance, there is a happy ending, and getting there makes for a very fun read.  I truly love Chris's sweet character because he's kind, caring, and very sexy.  Daphne becomes more likable and makes a huge transformation in the book.  It's a wee bit spicy, but if you enjoy romances, you really need to read The Art of Catching Feelings.

Have you read any good books this summer?

Until next time...

Happy reading!

Ricki Jill