Roomies

 Fiction by Christina Lauren

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I don't usually enjoy straight romances (novels in which the romance is the only plot element), but there are a few authors who can do this genre well, and Christina Lauren is one of them. (Incidentally this author is actually two people named Christina and Lauren, which is also fun.)

This book was a classic straight romance, involving an attractive couple thrown together (by pretending to be married in this case), SEVERAL misunderstandings (does he really love her or is it pretend?), and a next-to-last chapter breakup (she decides he really was pretending). 

DESPITE the formulaic nature I have just outlined, the characters in this book were good enough to keep me reading.

Result: This was a light and enjoyable romance story.

I also read recently by this author: In a Holidaze

Summer Darlings

 Fiction by Brooke Lea Foster

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

It's 1962, and Heddy Winsome has a summer nanny job for a wealthy family on Martha's Vineyard. Heddy is a scholarship girl at Wellesley College and hopes to make connections with people who can help her in the future, and/or meet a rich boy to marry. But Heddy will learn that rich people aren't always nice, and can be untrustworthy...

This story was okay I guess. I didn't really like Heddy that much and everyone except her fellow servants were pretty unpleasant.

Where Butterflies Wander

 Fiction by Suzanne Redfearn

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story, a wounded soldier named Davina returns to her old home on New Hampshire as her adopted mother lies dying and writes a final confession letter. Then it skips to twenty-two years later and a woman named Marie who is trying to escape overwhelming grief by coming to that same New Hampshire property.

Marie's idea is to sell her inherited land in order to buy a new home and get away from the house where her eight-year-old daughter Bee died less than a year earlier. But Marie is not the only one grieving; Bee's siblings Hannah and Brendon, her twin sister Penelope, and her father Leo are all reeling from the unexpected tragedy. Probably all of them recognize the futility of escaping emotional pain by simply changing locations; however, Marie seems determined to push forward. 

Then Davina, scarred by war and known to locals as the "river witch," is discovered still living in her cabin on the property. Marie sees Davina as a roadblock in her plan and takes steps to have her removed, which sets off a firestorm of trouble. As one might imagine, evicting a wounded veteran doesn't make anyone look good to the public. 

This was a good story that gives you a lot to think about. The author really gets you to understand the opposing perspectives.

I also read recently by this author: Hadley and Grace