Review: Miracles and Menorahs (Friendships and Festivals #1) by Stacey Agdern

 

Sarah Goldman loves Hanukkah, and she’s thrilled to be appointed as vice chair of the Hollowville Hanukkah Festival. So when the festival is threatened with cancellation, she comes up with an idea: a new slogan and advertising campaign topped off with a metal menorah large enough to fill the center of town. But even though her heart and dreams are large, the committee’s budget constraints threaten to stop her grand plans right in their tracks.

Famous metal sculptor Isaac Lieberman also loves Hanukkah. But his vision of a perfect Hanukkah isn’t a commercial community event—it’s spending time with family, following age-old traditions. He’s not interested in the festival, no matter how many times his grandmother, his bubbe, asks him to contribute one of his sculptures.

Then Sarah comes tumbling into his life…can she change his mind about more than just the holidays?

 

My Review:

Hanukkah, Miracles and Romance

The future of Hollowville’s Hanukkah festival is in jeopardy and it’s up to Sarah Goldman, also known as the Hanukkah Fairy, to make it the best ever in order for it to continue for future generations.  Sarah is so desperate, she is willing to ask Isaac Lieberman, the artist she called a Hanukkah snob, for his help building a menorah for the center of town.  Isaac doesn’t want to be part of a festival.  He says it commercializes the holiday.   But with a little Hanukkah magic and a budge from Isaac’s friends and Bubbe, he agrees to create the menorah.  In the process, Isaac and Sarah fall in love. 

I enjoyed this book quite a bit.  It was different form the usual holiday books I read.  I knew a little bit about Hanukkah and this book filled in the areas that I wasn’t familiar with.  It took me a little longer than usual to read this book as I was curious (and googled)  some of the terms used in it.  So, I got a good lesson there too.  I enjoyed the romance part of the story along with the friendship, family values and sense of community in Hollowville. 

Review: Mom Boss by Hilary Grossman

Welcome to Forest River, New York, where perfection is a requirement. The Lululemon-clad moms are perfectly toned, expertly highlighted, and magnificently manicured. The women spend their days practicing Pilates, shopping for shoes, and doing everything in their power to ensure their children never experience a difficult day.

PTA president, Jackie Martin, is the envy off the mothers. She has a loyal and handsome husband, she host's elaborate parties, and her eldest daughter, Hayley, is the most popular child in the fifth grade. Her life appears flawless, but is life ever what it seems to be?

After receiving a painful blow, when Hayley was in kindergarten, Jackie clawed her way into PTA power. She lived her life by the adage, "Proper planning prevents poor performance." Her attention to detail (okay fine – her control freak nature) served her well until she experiences the ultimate betrayal.

Angry and hurt, old emotional wounds are ripped open as Jackie realizes she doesn't know who she can trust. Jackie must reevaluate her life, her friendships, and the choices she has made. Will she finally let her guard down and show the world the real Jackie Martin?

A hilarious and heartwarming novel that’s perfect for fans of Class Mom! Mom Boss is the standalone prequel to Go On, Girl and Mom Genes.

 

My Review:

Forest River, New York, is a town filled with impressive homes and affluent families who seem more than perfect.  But taking a look below the surface, Forest River is filled with lots of secrets and scandals. 

When Jackie Martin decides she wants to be part of the popular Forest River Elementary School moms and join the PTA, she quickly learns it is going to be a lot of work.  Jackie is up to it, and with the help of her mother-in-law, Joan, she does just that.  And Jackie ruffles a lot of feathers along the way.

This is the third book in a series.  I enjoyed the other two books so much that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one.  It was better than I could have imagined.  I think this might be my favorite of the Forest River Mom books.  I would say these books are a combination of The Real Housewives and Big Little Lies.  I felt completely swept away to a world that is far from the one I live in.  Lots of glitz, glamour, drama and excitement.  And let’s not forget, the cute little kids.

 

Order Boss Mom at your favorite retailer: 

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08525MZTB

Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Hilary_Grossman_Mom_Boss?id=VyD6DwAAQBAJ

Barnes & Noble -  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=2940162873105

Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/mom-boss-1

Apple - https://books.apple.com/us/book/mom-boss/id15305336

 

To celebrate the release of Mom Boss, Go On, Girl, the first book in the Forest River PTA Moms, is free:

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H2J2WQL?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_0&storeType=ebooks

Review: Picture This Deanna Martinez-Bey

  

Carmen Sloan was married at a young age to a man she knew she would spend the rest of her life. She owned her own home, was attending college, and was quickly moving towards the life of her dreams.

After her husband Joe becomes sick, Carmen finds herself living an unrecognizable life, dealing with guilt and sadness daily. Walking to work at a pizza shop to wait tables, while her husband sat holed up in their home, was not the vision she had for her future.

A series of selfish decisions bring Carmen to a place of darkness. Dark secrets begin to wear on her, so she decides to admit her secrets to her husband, the one she used to love more than herself.

Just as Carmen makes a fresh start and life begins to bring her peace, an ugly part of her past drags her back into darkness. Will a broken heart be the death of her?

Picture This is a story of love, strength, secrets, darkness, and new beginnings.

 

My Review:

An inspiring story of self-discovery.

Sometimes, a person that you think you know well, is not who they really are.  Carmen Sloan discovers this when her marriage falls apart and she decides to move on.  This story follows Carmen through the end of her marriage and how she picks up the pieces and decides to live her dream of becoming a professional photographer and through her personal relationships.

My heart went out to Carmen with all she went through.  Just as she thought things were going great, she seems to get let down.  The author wrote this story in a way where it felt so real; like maybe it really is someone’s true story.  It is an inspiring journey that brings hope to what seems like an impossible situation.