In Mixed Doubles, three friends make New Year's resolutions for the upcoming year: Dulcie wants a divorce, Liza wants to get married, and Pru wants her relationship to stay the same. But as the year goes on, adventures and surprises await each of the three friends, and nothing goes according to plan.

This story has all that I've come to love about Jill Mansell books. It's sweet, heart-warming, funny, and poignant. Each of the three main characters is well-sketched out, with their quirks and flaws, but still interesting and lovable. It's fun to cheer them on as they discover themselves and search for love. There were so many moments when I was laughing out loud, and also moments when I was wiping away tears.

For me, Jill Mansell is the queen of the beach read, and this is yet another to add to a collection of winners. Her stories, without being overly cheesy or saccharine, always manage to move me and touch me. They never fail to leave me with a feeling of happiness, which is exactly what I need right now.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

If you're in the mood for something crazy and chilling, well, look no further.

Angela, Geo, and Kai were best friends in high school. They were inseparable until Geo fell in love with bad boy Calvin. Then one night, Angela mysteriously disappears. Geo carries the secret of what really happened for 14 years, until the day Angela's remains are discovered in the woods outside Geo's childhood home. What follows is the unraveling of what really happened on that fateful night all those years ago, and what is still to come for all involved.

This book is so darn entertaining. I was riveted from the very beginning, holding my metaphoric bowl of popcorn and turning the pages as fast I could. The writing is fast-paced and the atmosphere is deliciously suspenseful. I did find the first half to be more thrilling because I didn't know where the story was going, whereas by the second half, the story had crystallized into a narrative with a clear destination.

However, this story does require a tremendous suspension of disbelief. A lot of outlandish things happen, and if you think about it carefully, they don't really hang completely together. The characters are all unlikable and varying degrees of crazy. And to progress the plot, there are some coincidences, a lot of conveniences, and even some contradictions. Also, I found this book to be much darker than a typical thriller, with some of the bad events verging on the grotesque.

Still, I had a lot of fun reading this. It was crazy and dark and outlandish, and it kept me entertained throughout. This is my first book by Jennifer Hillier, and I'll have to check out more.

Readaroo Rating: 4 stars

The Rural Diaries is charming and joyous, a celebration of family and community and simple living. Hilarie Burton and her husband left the Hollywood lifestyle and moved to a small town in New York to raise their family, starting with a cabin in the woods and then moving onto a working farm with cows, donkeys, alpacas, chickens, ducks; you name it, they have it.

While I never watched One Tree Hill, I grew up during that era and had seen bits and pieces of the show just flipping through the channels. Burton's character Peyton always seemed so driven and strong at a time when I was a floundering teenager trying to figure out my passion and place in life. Then this book comes along and I find out she married the Winchester dad from Supernatural. So my curiosity was definitely peaked.

Often with celebrity memoirs, you hardly learn anything about the person after reading them. But that's not the case here. You can hear Burton's voice shine throughout. She is so genuine and open in the book, sharing not just her triumphs but also her challenges and heartbreaks. She speaks candidly of her experience with motherhood, the difficulties of making a marriage work, every day life on the farm, her struggles with infertility, and so much more. And it's clear her love for her town, and how thankful she is to have finally found a place to belong and a community that embraces her.

Reading this book felt like talking to an old friend, one who is insightful and funny. At the heart of it, Burton distilled her life down to its most important parts, and wasn't afraid to take the leap nor of the hard work that followed. She takes the bad moments one day at a time while remembering to celebrate all that life has to offer. She lives the life we all want, one that is authentic to who is she, and I respect her so much for that.

Readaroo Rating: 5 stars!