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#BookReview: Every Moment Since by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Dark. Dreary. Dismal. Oppressive. And Then The Candle Flickers To Life. This is one of those books that takes the hyper-dark and hyper-oppressive feel of the singular worst book I’ve *EVER* read – The Road by Cormac McCarthy – and does what McCarthy never could: Provide just that flicker of a spark of a candle lighting. *Just* enough to provide *some* level of hope. Even when most everyone in this book is so broken by the central issue – a child going missing decades ago – and their secrets about that night that none of them *really* *want* that hope, the reader *needs* that smallest flicker… and Whalen provides it in particularly dramatic form.

For those who are not fans of multi-perspective books… this one isn’t going to change that, sorry. There are a lot of perspectives going on here, and a lot of sudden switching that can get a touch confusing at times, particularly as we switch between “then” and “now”.

But really, that was the only *potential* flaw here, and not everyone has that particular hangup. (I don’t, I actually thought the multi-perspectives made the story work much *better* in this particular case, as we get so many views on what happened here and how different people are reacting differently.)

The tie in to Richard Jewel of the Centennial Park Bombing during the 1996 Olympic Park Bombings in Atlanta was interesting, even if Whalen actually meant that particular character to be a more general representation. (And to be clear, it is only my own mind that made the connection at all, though perhaps others who were living in the Atlanta region during that time also might make it. The actual characterization is far more generic and could represent any number of people in similar situations.)

Overall a strong, if extremely dark and depressing, tale extremely well told. Very much recommended.

This review of Every Moment Since by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen was originally written on October 14, 2024.

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#BlogTour: Second Chance Romance by Carol Mason

For this blog tour, we’re looking at . For this blog tour, we’re looking at Second Chance Romance by Carol Mason.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookHype.com / TheStoryGraph.com / Goodreads.com):

Nothing Technically Wrong, Yet Much Many Won’t Like. In my review of Mason’s earlier book, Between You And Me, three years ago last month, I noted that Mason managed to craft a tale “with particulars that I’d never seen done quite this way before, and that is always something I seek out and love to find”. That remains true in this tale, seemingly her first attempt at a more lighthearted romcom after several books more in the domestic thriller/ women’s fiction space.

And while the particulars are at least somewhat new – while also being a hodgepodge of other ideas and characterizations well known in the romance space in varying forms – it also becomes quite clear that Mason is new to writing within this particular space, as she has the basic formula down quite well… and yet, there is much here that those looking for a truly mindless and hilarious “beach reach” romcom won’t find here at all.

To be clear, this book absolutely has its moments of hilarity. It also has at least habanero level spiciness… in a form that many will consider potentially offputting (but is also well known in *ahem* “certain video circles” *ahem* to be quite popular therein). And the book’s locations, in coastal California, Santorini, and even the historic areas of Athens (Greece, to be clear, vs Athens, GA, home of my beloved University of Georgia Bulldogs) are shown well… yet don’t seem to “hit” quite as well as others within the space. It also has moments of stone-cold seriousness, including when we find out our male lead’s “deep dark secret” – and here is yet another point that will be divisive for some, but which I felt was handled in a very realistic manner.

Indeed, perhaps one of the more difficult aspects of this tale is that throughout, it can never really decide if it wants to be a romcom or a “serious women’s fiction” type tale… and sadly, the combination of both comes across as disjointed enough to detract from each, rather than enhance each.

This is a book with no actual objective-ish reasons to deduct stars or not recommend, and yet it is still a difficult book to classify and really find an audience that will clearly love it – which is a shame, because Mason has shown herself to be a talented storyteller in prior efforts, and even here shows quite a bit of that talent… in fits and spurts.

So read the book for yourself and see if you can help me sort it out.

Recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
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