A charming and redemptive novel about unexpected second chances, following a publicist who, after the sudden implosion of her career, takes a job as a dorm mom at a Sonoma boarding school that happens to be her alma mater
Gillian thought she had everything she ever wanted—as a successful publicist running her own Manhattan firm and working with a high-profile-celebrity clientele, she finally made herself at home among the elite who eluded her throughout her youth. That is, until her career implodes, leaving her jobless, friendless, and with a googleable reputation that follows her everywhere. So, when she receives an offer to become a “dorm mom” at Glen Ellen Academy, the prestigious Sonoma boarding school she attended two decades earlier on scholarship, she leaps at the opportunity for a change of scene—at least until she can figure out how to rehabilitate her career.
But Gillian is surprised to find herself enjoying her new life: her role as a mentor is unexpectedly fulfilling, she finds a community, and most surprisingly of all she runs into an old flame from her own time at school, who is just as dashing now as he was then. However, just as she begins to feel comfortable, a scandal surfaces on campus that threatens to derail everything, and Gillian must figure out how to save her job, her students, her friends, and her new romance before it’s too late.
*Beth’s Review*
‘Room and Board’ by Miriam Parker contains a nice mixture of the past and the present. When Gillian moves from New York to California after a scandal rocks her publicity career, she finds herself back on her old stomping grounds. Becoming a dorm mother at her former prep school was never something she envisioned herself doing, but with her plummeting career, someone reaching out to offer the position seemed like something she couldn’t pass up. Being back on campus brings back lots of memories—both happy and painful. Those two feelings come to a head when she once again comes upon her high school crush and her former high school roommate’s boyfriend, Aiden. When she finds herself crossing paths with him again, and back at the high school no less, she can’t help but feel the butterflies of her past longing for him coupled with her deep desire to avoid the trouble that liking him caused her in the first place.
Warm as well as bitter memories of Gillian’s young adulthood are peppered throughout the pages of the novel. All the while, she finds herself connecting with a new batch of young people who walk the halls of her former dormitory. While they seem conceited and spoiled on the outside, she finds there is depth to each of them and enjoys learning about their lives, their hopes, and their thoughts about the future.
Gillian finds new friends while she hesitates to take on the role of publicist for the campus when a variety of issues, and even scandals, arise. Yet, she fall right back into her groove of working with people and finding ways to engage with the community.
Despite Gillian being in her late thirties when the novel begins, there is still a sense of coming of age for her as she finds herself and her purpose in a familiar place, though at a different time in her life. She realizes things about herself, and about others, that allow her to feel a sense of belonging that she never truly felt in her past.
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Title: How to Be the Best Third Wheel by Loridee De Villa
After a summer spent in the Philippines with her family, Lara Dela Cruz is eager to start her senior year and, most importantly, reunite with her three besties, Carol, Jasmine, and Kiera. Of course summer is the season of change, and Lara knew she’d have to get caught up on the major updates, hot gossip, and other shenanigans she may have missed. But what she did not expect was to show up on the first day of school to all three of her friends now in relationships.
The mushy public displays of affection and lunches spent gushing about their new “boyfries” has Lara quickly realizing her last year of high school is nothing like she imagined.
Since she’s been back, Lara’s long time frenemy, James, has become impossibly annoying. Sure, they are now both third wheels, but why is he asking her to tutor him in classes? And why, after they start spending more time together, does she begin to notice how cute he looks when he smiles . . . uh oh.
Fighting for the attention of her best friends, catching some pretty new and confusing feelings for James, and wading through the pressures post-high-school plans all have Lara reeling. And to make matters worse, Lara’s beautiful and untrustworthy cousin conveniently appears and wiggles her way right between her and James’ budding relationship. Feeling like a third wheel in more ways than one, Lara must learn to accept that change is inevitable, love is complicated, and being the odd one out is sometimes where inner power is found.
*Beth’s Review*
‘How to Be the Best Third Wheel’ by Loridee De Villa throws a wrench into main character Lara’s plans when her three best friends—Kiera, Jasmine, and Carol—all start senior year with boyfriends, while Lara has been in the Philippines visiting family and is boyfriend-less. Add to the trouble that her best friends’ three new boyfriends are the best guy friends of the guy she has made it her mission to hate—James. Never mind that she and James used to be best friends and have known each other their whole lives. Ever since high school started, not only have they drifted apart, but they have made it their personal goal to prank and annoy each other to no end.
When James trips Lara on the first day of school, she vows revenge. Little does she know that her revenge will turn into full-on study sessions with James when their moms—who so happen to be best friends—set Lara up as James’ tutor. Before long, they begin to see subtle moments that make them remember the past, when things were good between them. While James is a flirt, Lara sees him doing it more and more with her, and she begins to wonder if there is something between them, all the while hoping that she’s wrong. She wants to be wrong, but she also doesn’t want to be wrong. Developing feelings for James is not something she wanted or expected, but little by little, it starts to happen, and she doesn’t know quite what she should do about it.
Exacerbating the problem is how James seems to be into her, too. When something seems to be happening between them, Lara takes steps to nip it in the bud, and James begins to act more aloof after that point. She fears she’s risked everything, even the “frenemy-ship” they had agreed on, one step beyond enemies but before friendship.
She questions how their relationship came back into play, and it all revolves around how she became the seventh wheel to her three best friends and their boyfriends, while James is her equal on that front with his three guy friends. They had to be there for each other. There was no other choice. Maybe that’s all it was, she reasons. But she knows better. And any reader can see the spark between them. Watching them go through their ups and downs is exciting, relatable, and thoroughly enjoyable, with some sweet, sad, and extremely happy moments in between.
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Title: Game Changer by Abbi Glines
The sixth book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Field Party series—a Southern soap opera with football, cute boys, and pick-up trucks—from USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines.
Ezmita Ramos has always had big plans for her future, ones that would take her far outside the Lawton city limits. But with overprotective parents who control every part of her life, she’s worried that these dreams will never become reality.
There’s nothing Asa Griffith wants more than to leave Lawton. It’s his senior year and he’s all set to attend Ole Miss in the fall, but a part of him also worries about what will happen if he leaves his mom living alone with his abusive father. After a huge fight with his father that escalates to violence, Asa is forced out of the house in the middle of the night with nowhere to go.
When Asa and Ezmita cross paths that night, neither of them is in the mood to socialize. But they also feel this undeniable chemistry, one that gives them each hope that better days lie ahead. Then Asa is sent away to live with his grandmother for four months, only to return to Lawton and find out Ezmita has moved on. Still, the sparks between Asa and Ezmita linger. Neither of them has forgotten the way they felt seen by the other at their lowest points.
Can Asa and Ezmita find their way back to each other?
*Beth’s Review*
‘Game Changer’ by Abbi Glines combines heartache with the beauty of finding love where you least expected it. Despite Asa Griffith’s difficult family life, he has an end goal—to get out of Lawton, Alabama as fast as he can to escape his abusive father. The trouble is that he wants to take his mother with him, and she won’t go. She stands by his father no matter the trouble that occurs.
It’s not until Asa meets Ezmita that he discovers that life doesn’t have to be so dramatic and unfulfilling. She brings light and purpose that he hasn’t ever had before. Even though she’s lived in town her whole life as well, her family upbringing and the fact that she is being homeschooled keeps him from knowing her. But she knows him and has had a crush on him for forever, having worked in her parents’ gas station and store, waiting on him for years.
When Ezmita catches Asa on what might possibly be the worst night of his life, a bond forms. He feels like she gets him unlike any other, and even though he doesn’t want to let himself be vulnerable, he can’t seem to help himself when he’s around her. As they get to know each other, they fall deeper and deeper, Asa knowing all the while that he doesn’t want to hurt her. She’s too important to him for that to happen. Yet, he can’t help himself, and it’s not only Ezmita who risks being hurt, but Asa himself, as their lives seem to be headed in two separate directions.
As the COVID-19 pandemic begins in March 2020 and makes it way through the town of Lawton, Asa deals with how his family is affected by the virus, while his friends and Ezmita try to keep his spirits up. The death of a friend earlier in the story ahead of the pandemic beginning, along with Ezmita’s strict parents and the uncertainty of college looming over their heads all makes for difficulties that they try to get through by finding solace in each other.
The hardships that Asa and Ezmita experience, while not easy, make them stronger and more determined to make their own way and share their truth with each other. It is a realistic and intense look at how life can really throw you for a loop, but you have to find a way to make it right for you, no matter the circumstances.
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Title: Alias Anna by Susan Hood & Greg Dawson
When the Germans invade Ukraine, Zhanna, a young Jewish girl, must leave behind her friends, her freedom, and her promising musical future at the world’s top conservatory. With no time to say goodbye, Zhanna, her sister Frina, and their entire family are removed from their home by the Nazis and forced on a long, cold, death march. When a guard turns a blind eye, Zhanna flees with nothing more than her musical talent, her beloved sheet music, and her father’s final plea: “I don’t care what you do. Just live.”
‘Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis’ by Greg Dawson and Susan Hood is a captivating nonfiction story in verse about Zhanna, alias Anna, and her sister, Frina, as they struggle to escape the Holocaust and the Nazis who always pose an obstacle to their freedom.
Zhanna’s father had one plea for her when he told her to run off. He said, “I don’t care what you do. Just live.” So she took those words and literally ran with them, desperate to escape the fate that her parents likely met. Soon, she discovers her sister is still alive, and together they do their best to escape, danger always clicking at their heels.
When they had to leave behind their home, their friends, and the potential for what their future could have been if they had stayed at the world-renowned conservatory where they were students, Zhanna didn’t think her life could ever get back on track. Little did she know that she’d soon be playing music for Nazi guards, having them claim her as their own, unaware of her Jewish upbringing and faith. Her struggles and avoidance of torture, death, and the like is truly amazing. Having people who stood up to help her and her sister, as well as finding out whom she could truly count on while learning there were those whom she couldn’t, is heartbreaking. The story is one of truth, faith, love, and desperation to do anything necessary to survive.
Pictures, letters, and additional notes and references line the back matter of the book, adding to the intensity of the tale and increasing engagement with the sensitive topic that is the Holocaust. Written by Zhanna’s son, Greg Dawson, along with Susan Hood, the book does a superb job of telling Zhanna’s story in third person and incorporating words that Zhanna says herself. The lyrical nature of the book is only heightened by the back and forth storytelling that this imparts. Zhanna’s story is true, and it is extremely telling of the way the world was not even 100 years ago. While scary, it provides a glimpse into a terrifying time that must never be forgotten.
Adriana Russo is figure skating royalty.
With gold-medalist parents, and her older sister headed to the Olympics, all she wants is to live up to the family name and stand atop the ice dance podium at the Junior World Championships. But fame doesn’t always mean fortune, and their legendary skating rink is struggling under the weight of her dad’s lavish lifestyle. The only thing keeping it afloat is a deal to host the rest of the Junior Worlds team before they leave for France.
That means training on the same ice as her first crush, Freddie, the partner she left when her growth spurt outpaced his. For the past two years, he’s barely acknowledged her existence, and she can’t even blame him for it.
When the family’s finances take another unexpected hit, losing the rink seems inevitable until her partner, Brayden, suggests they let the world believe what many have suspected: that their intense chemistry isn’t contained to the ice. Fans and sponsors alike take the bait, but keeping up the charade is harder than she ever imagined. And training alongside Freddie makes it worse, especially when pretending with Brayden starts to feel very real.
As the biggest competition of her life draws closer and her family’s legacy hangs in the balance, Adriana is caught between her past and present, between the golden future she’s worked so hard for, and the one she gave up long ago.
‘Finding Her Edge’ by Jennifer Iacopelli is a light-hearted, sweet young adult story with a mix of themes, including dedication, motivation, self-worth, endurance, and, of course, romance.
Adriana has always felt like she’s in her sister Elisa’s shadow. While Elisa is preparing for Olympic stardom, Adriana is partnering with Brayden, Elisa’s ex, for her own shot at stardom doing ice dancing. Something more seems to be there with Brayden, but Adriana doesn’t want to see it, though she can’t help but notice how cute and sweet Brayden is to her. When it seems like something more might be bubbling up between them, her old partner, Freddie, comes to train at her family’s ice rink, and there is a bit of feelings overload at play. No one is saying what they really feel, and there is a lot of tension. Throw into the mix Freddie’s new partner, Riley, who has her own crush on him, and a love triangle gets turned into a love square pretty quickly.
While Adriana tries to find herself and gain independence from her father and older sister, whom she always feels somewhat less than, she has conflicting feelings about Brayden and Freddie, not knowing quite where she stands with either of them. Not helping matters any is the fact that they all have to focus intensely on their goals, the dreams they’ve had for years—to win gold medals along the way and junior championships and then make it to the Olympics to do the same.
When things don’t go as planned for her older sister, Elisa, Adriana steps into the spotlight herself, with two cute guys surrounding her, and a whole host of people counting on her. While the story might seem predictable, it was far from it, with uncertainty about who she might end up with, and a strong hope to see her grow into someone who can stand up for herself and what she believes in without fear of someone quashing her dreams in the meantime.
The story will not only make readers swoon, but it will make them ponder what they believe in and want to stand up for, even if they are worried they might lose quite a bit in the process. Jennifer Iacopelli has crafted a well-rounded, enjoyable story that mixes the beauty of figure skating and ice dancing with the wonder of young, but enduring, love.
