The Best is Yet to Come by Debbie Macomber. 4*

 

Macomber is a master at the small-town romance, and The Best is Yet to Come doesn’t disappoint. Her characters, both Hope, a young teacher whose twin brother has been killed in Afghanistan, and Cade, a former soldier struggling with mental and physical injuries, are complex and relatable. Adding in Shadow, a neglected and abused dog who is destined for euthanasia, and you have the formula for a romance built on recovery. That the high school where Hope teaches worships football and its heroes, and the problems that go along with blind worship, and you could be in any small town in America. Oceanside though, is a special place, and it is a great town to visit this summer!

The Best is Yet to Come will be released July 12, 2022. Thanks to the Random House Ballantine for the advanced reader copy!

The Catch by Alison Fairbrother 5*

 

This was a book that surprised me. I expected it to be about how the father, who’d had four kids with three different wives, a minor poet at that, was “the catch.”  But Catch has so many meanings, and they are all in play in this fun novel where the main character Ellie, tries to understand why her now deceased father left his most prized possession, not to her, his favorite, but to a stranger. The unfolding of this mystery is full of emotion, good humor, and excellent characters. I’d call it a great summer read, but if isn’t a typically shallow, feel-good book. The writing is gorgeous and the story complex enough, with much emotional growth, that is deserves any season. I’ll look forward to Fairbrother’s next one!

 

Thanks to Random House for the advance copy of this book, which published on June 22, 2022.