Stuck Wit’ Chu. Olivia Shaw-Reel. 2020. 149 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Stuck Wit’ Chu is essentially a story about a broken marriage and a couple at a crossroads. Keith and Marlow have been married over a decade, are parents to three young children, and have somehow lost their way. They’re navigating the Covid-19 pandemic while facing their own crisis at home, and the book follows their attempt to figure otu whether to salvage their life together or if a divorce is the only path forward. The premise of the story is realistic enough. After so many years of marriage, it’s easy to understand how a couple gets into a routine; the excitement of newlywed life morphs after parenthood and other new responsibilities. Marlow has to reckon with her role as wife and mother taking precedent over her career in dancing, which presents a central conflict. Their existing problems are compounded by poor communication, distrust, and a lack of transparency — throughout the book, these three issues in particular are the root of multiple blowups. In all honesty, I didn’t connect with either main character much. This could be due in part to how short the book is overall — it…

A Little Bit of Karma. ReShona Tate Billingsley. 2020. Gallery Books. 288 pages. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Even with the suspense and “whodunit” plot, Reshonda Tate Billingsley stayed true to her redemptive characters. If you’ve read her previous works, you know she always takes the characters through an evolution – Jay and Dr. Shannon were no different. This was a stray from her usual writing style and not her best work, but still a good read nonetheless. Impossible to compare to the recently hyped thrillers, this book was a “whodunit” with a primary focus on the survival of a relationship. I found myself absorbed in the first half of the book and initially perplexed as the action began … I ultimately rode the wave to the end, interested in The Who, what, when and why, and was satisfied with the conclusion and how the author had it unfold. The only complaint I have is the inability to clearly understand the relationship between Keri and the older woman — initially I thought the discrepancy was a highlight to the woman’s lapsing memory but I’m not quite sure … is that her mother or grandmother? Four stars – but suspense…

A March Bride. Rachel Hauck. 2014. 99 pages. Zondervan Books. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] What girl doesn’t dream of marrying a prince and becoming queen in a faraway kingdom? It’s literally the fairy tale most girls dream of from the time they’re old enough to speak. That wasn’t quite what Susanna, a girl-next-door from Georgia, thought she was getting when she started dating Nathaniel. However, she soon finds herself head over heels in love and facing the prospect of becoming a part of Brighton royalty. The hitch? She has to give up everything she has dreamed of. No small-town wedding with her closest friends and family looking on. No quiet life in America. She’ll even have to renounce her American citizenship. And as the wedding draws near, all her carefully laid plans are coming apart one by one.

Prairie Anna. Peggy House. 2012. 112 pages. JourneyForth. [Source: ARC provided courtesy of NetGalley.] Prairie Anna is a historical fiction novel that has Anna as its protagonist. She is the daughter of Russian immigrants who are trying to build a life in the prairies of Dakota. At only ten years old, Anna has a great deal of responsibility in helping her family survive, and throughout this book, she sees a great deal of hardship, including the death of her mother and newborn sister, the loss of the family home, and difficulty of keeping her faith in the face of all of this.