Jones throws every issue imaginable at her two main protagonists, best friends living in the Deep South, both without their mothers. The young women cope with their pain in divergent ways, and while I was interested in the story, I wanted to feel a deeper emotional connection to the characters and the increasingly dramatic layers of the novel's events. Young Annie and Vernice were best friends in small-town Louisiana. Both grew up without mothers, but then their paths diverge

I liked the unlikely modern-day friendship and depth of connection, and I love a best-friend story, but the past timeline and immense,...

I love the way Fortune builds a summer tableau, but the reasoning for this forbidden love didn't hold up for me, and I was frustrated by...

Ready or Not is a light take on unplanned pregnancy. It felt so easy for Eve to plan to enter into single parenthood despite the many...

Sarah Grunder Ruiz serves up an irresistible rom-com with great banter and with interesting and difficult, complex issues of loss, grief,...

Young mom Annie's abrupt death leaves her four children, husband, and best friend reeling. Each of them must find a way back to...

Riley has crafted a middle-grade fantasy book with humor, adventure, characters to root for, and heart and depth that surprised me. I'll...

The Guncle is full of heart and humor, quirky family love, and fun references to musicals and movies--yet Rowley also offers poignancy,...