Review: Three Sisters by Susan Mallery

Source: a review copy was provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Remember how I decided to quit the Fool’s Gold books? That decision stands, but Ms. Mallery’s Women’s Fiction novels are a different story altogether. I really enjoyed the previous two and I had high hopes for this one, and although things were a bit touch and go there for a second, overall I enjoyed it a lot.

Three Sisters is the nickname of three neighboring houses. You can probably guess that three houses means that we get three main characters, each quite different from the other and with a unique set of problems to solve.

The first house is in shambles and was recently acquired by Andi, whose fiancé left her at the altar. Brokenhearted and humiliated, she decided to take all her money, move to the island, buy the practice from the local pediatrician and restore the dilapidated house. But unlike what the blurb says, Andi has her act together and only needs a bit of courage to rebuild her life, her new home and maybe her love life.

Small-Town Romances: How Many is Too Many?

LOL by Lilyofthevalley

I’m a fan of Small-Town Romances. The main reason why I like them is because they tend to be character-oriented stories that mostly focus on the romance. They deal with a variety of subjects that go from the hilarious to the dramatic. The secondary characters are interesting, as they should be considering their main role is to keep us interested to read the next book. And overall they feel like comfort food; they make me feel good and, well, comforted. 

However, the same reasons why I love Small-Town Romances are the reasons why I dislike them: the characters can be repetitive; the lighter tone means that the subject remains underdeveloped; the secondary characters overtake the story; and comfort food becomes boring after eating it repeatedly. I've noticed that these issues tend to develop when the series extends beyond the third book. What starts as a trilogy, becomes a sextet, and in Robyn Carr’s case, twenty books and counting. 

One example of this is the Fool’s Gold series by Susan Mallery. The first book was fantastic, and even though the next two weren't as good, they had fully developed characters and interesting, albeit incredible, stories. But the series kept growing and the stories and characters started to blend in together. And the last set of books was so appalling that I decided to quit the series. 

Review: A Fool's Gold Christmas by Susan Mallery

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Two books ago I broke up with this series. Obviously I have no willpower because the minute I saw this one on NetGalley I requested it. The reason I wanted to read it was because the heroine was actually the one redeeming part of what I call the book with the goats of doom. I’m happy to say that this one wasn’t awful.

Evie Stryker is the estranged half-sister of the brothers that were the leads of the past three books in the series. The reason she’s estranged is because their mother had an affair just after the boys’ father died and she was the result. The mother never loved her and she was mostly cast aside and ignored. She grew up alone and with a lot of resentment and when she left home, she never came back.

Review: Summer Days by Susan Mallery

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Note: this review is long, contains spoilers and is a bit ranty. You have been warned.

Summer Days is the newest installment in a series that’s become a representative of small town romances joining the likes of Virgin River, Shelter Bay and Destiny. This is the 7th book in the series, and although the characters were introduced in the previous books, it stands alone perfectly well.

Review: Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Susan Mallery is famous for her contemporary romances that are usually fun and light reads, but she also writes more dramatic stories that go well with the term women’s fiction. Barefoot Season is one of those more serious books.

Michelle Sanderson has returned to her childhood home in Blackberry Island after being severely injured in Iraq. She does it for necessity because years ago she fled home to never come back. After her father left, her relationship with her difficult mother became almost unbearable, and she had a falling out with her best friend, Carly. But now she’s back battling PTSD and alcoholism and all she wants is peace to recover from her wounds.

Review: Only His by Susan Mallery

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes. 

This is the third and last book in this new trilogy set in the fictional town of Fool’s Gold. If you are new to the series you should know that each book features one of the Hendrix’s triplets. Only His is Nevada’s book and her turn to find her happily ever after. 

Ten years ago Nevada was away from home about to start college and feeling like a fish out of water. It was the first time in her life that she wasn’t living at home and worse, it was her first attempt at being apart from her sisters. Her brother Ethan tells her to look up his old friend Tucker Janack who lives in town so she can at least have one familiar face while she settles into her new life. The first time she meets with him is love at first sight, but only for her. Tucker is infatuated to the point of obsession with a famous artist and only sees Nevada as the little girl he used to know. When Nevada finds that the artist left Tucker, she goes to console him and what she finds is a very drunk and heartbroken Tucker who ends up taking her virginity. And just when Nevada thinks he finally loves her, Tucker calls the artist’s name in the worst possible moment. Talk about humiliation… 

Review: Only Yours by Susan Mallery

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Susan Mallery has created a wonderful town. Because this is an ongoing series I think is very important not only to create good storylines but also to have a perfect background, otherwise it would be very easy to get bored. Fool’s Gold is a wonderful place to set these stories and that is why I’m very happy to see that Susan isn’t ready to move out of town yet.

Only Yours is book two in this new trilogy featuring the Hendrix sisters. Montana has been trying to find herself for a while now. Unlike her very driven sisters she didn’t really know what she wanted to do in life until she met Max and his dogs. Now she has finally found her niche training therapy dogs, and she loves it. After a very disastrous first encounter involving an unruly puppy and the hospital’s pediatric burn unit, she meets Dr. Simon Bradley. This guy is not only the most beautiful man she has ever seen but the crankiest as well (although after what the dog does he has every reason to be mad). Simon also has a terrible scar in half his face. Despite the very bad first impression they do feel attracted to each other, but Simon has more scars than the ones you can see in his body and so the road to their happily ever after won’t be an easy one.

Review: Only Mine by Susan Mallery

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Susan Mallery is one of my favorite authors. I think I have read pretty much everything she has written and I get really excited when one of her new books is about to come out. When I saw this book was available on NetGalley I was very happy and even happier when they send it to me.

Only Mine is the first book of the new trilogy set on the town of Fool’s Gold. If you are a fan of Susan Mallery you know that this book is a continuation of the series that started last year. I think you can start reading this one because there are no spoilers for the past books, but I think you should read the others first because that way you will know more about the town (and believe me, the town is a huge part of the book’s charm) and the people who lives there including this book’s heroine.

Review: Already Home by Susan Mallery

I have enjoyed almost everything I’ve read by Susan Mallery, some of her books I liked more than others, and some of them are pure gold. I believe this book falls into the last category.

Already Home is about a group of women whose lives get mixed together by different reasons. Jenna is recently divorced and is back at home, her self-esteem has gotten such a huge blow that she is even changing careers, she used to be a chef but now feels so insecure that is starting a cookware store. Violet is also insecure in her personal life, but for a complete different set of reasons, she comes to the store looking for a job, and quickly a friendship ensures between the two of them.

On the other hand is Beth, she is Jenna’s adoptive mother, and she is happy that her daughter is back in town, but is worried about her. And then, along comes Serenity, she is Jenna’s birth mother and has come to meet her daughter. Needless to say that Jenna is shocked and not too happy about it.