A Million Reasons Why, by Jessica Strawser. 5*

 

A Million Reasons Why by Jessica Strawser

 

When Caroline’s husband selected the Christmas gift they would give her family, he had no reason to believe it would result in anything but interesting information.  He had no way of knowing the heartbreaking secrets that would be unlocked by that simple test.

 

The information sends this family into chaos that includes infidelity and illegitimate children, to lies told to keep the secrets hidden.  Along the way, complex characters tangled together in a web of love and secrecy gamble with what they hold most dear.  And the plot continues to twist.

 

Strawser had treated moral issues most people never consider with tenderness and compassion. What would you do if you could save someone’s life…and only you could do it?  This book not only explores the morality of its characters, but also of how our society treats people with medical crises, particularly those in need of organ donation.

 

This book will grab you and keep you until the end. You won’t want to put it down.

 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this copy to me. Publication date is March 23, 2021.

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines, debut by Pamela Terry. 4*

 

 

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines

 

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines, a debut novel by Pamela Terry, is the best of southern family drama but also part travel book. The scenes that unfold for the Bruce family, upon the unexpected death of the matriarch sport characters authentic, lovable and embarrassing, just as we’d expect in a story of a family.

 

Where Terry shines most, though, is in her descriptions and sense of place. Lila, our main character, begins the journey at her late husband, now her, home in Maine, where we as readers would be just as happy to stay, with the artists and all the great canine friends.

 

But then she travels “home” to Wesleyan, Georgia, and she not only enchants us with the tasteful homes and small town, but also lets us visit the low country Marsh. The writing in this section felt very much like Pat Conroy could have been nudging the author as she typed.

 

But she saved the best for last, as our characters travel to the Hebrides in Scotland, to the actual island (but fictional community) of Eynhallow, where the beauty makes the reader, and probably the writer, breathless.

 

Encapsulated in these lovely settings is a very real story of loss, mystery and acceptance. In these pandemic times, I’d give it five stars for the chance to “travel” alone, but the story is well done. Especially if you love dogs!

 

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines will be published March 16, 2021 by Random House/Ballantine. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to preview.