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JUNE BOOKS Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica The Rules of Half by Jenna Patrick The Half-Life of Remorse by Grant Jarrett The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Proof by C.E. Tobisman Last Seen by J.L. Doucette The People We Hate At The Wedding by Grant Ginder REVIEWS: If Will Fletcher’s severe bipolar disorder isn’t proof he shouldn’t be a parent, his infant daughter’s grave is. Once a happily married, successful veterinarian, he now lives with his sister and thrives as the small-town crazy of Half Moon Hollow. But when a fifteen-year-old orphan claims she’s his daughter, Will is forced back into the role he fears most: fatherhood.  Her biological dad isn’t the hero Regan Whitmer hoped for, but he’s better than her abusive stepfather back in Chicago. Still haunted by her mother’s suicide and the rebellious past she fears led to it, Regan is desperate for a stable home and a normal family―things Will can’t offer. Can she ride the highs and lows of his illness to find a new definition of family?  The Rules of Half explores what it is to be an atypical family in a small town and to be mentally ill in the wake of a tragedy―and who has the right to determine both. MY REVIEW: This book was amazing.  I was so moved by the sharp storytelling, richly created characters and heartbreaking, but hopeful, story.  I was drawn into the way Patrick beautifully created a story of mental illness, family, tragedy and heartbreak into a story that was so perfectly fleshed out that you could not help but get  lost within the pages.   Patrick was able to build that this into a setting that was equally captivating.  A brilliant and impressive debut novel. When two vagrants meet on the streets of Muncie, Indiana, they are both unaware that their paths crossed years before. Chic, crude and uneducated, is convinced that Sam is nothing more than a harmless lunatic, and Sam, emotionally scarred and psychologically traumatized by events long past, regards Chic as just another denizen of the street. But Chic has spent his adult life trying to purge his soul of the brutal crime he committed as a teenager―the same botched burglary that resulted in the deaths of Sam’s wife and son. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter Claire is still unable to give up hope that her father might someday reappear.  When these three lives converge, the puzzle of the past gradually falls together, but redemption commands a high price, and what is revealed will test the limits of love and challenge the human capacity for forgiveness. MY REVIEW: I love when a books have such a strong voice and the characters themselves are those that pull the reader in.  The Half-Life of Remorse is one of those books that is driven by the characters.  It his a book that takes unlikely characters and intersects their lives and it creates a story that moves the reader to the core.  It is one of those books that I find hard to put into words, but one that moved me deeply.  What I can say with certainly is that you want to read this book and you want to do it soon! In this gripping sequel to C.E. Tobisman’s legal thriller Doubt, techie turned attorney Caroline Auden struggles to move on with her life after her last case nearly destroyed her career. Still haunted by the betrayal that forced her to leave a prestigious law firm, Caroline Auden struggles to keep her fledgling practice afloat—and her paranoia in check. When her grandmother dies, she mourns losing the only constant in her life. But grief soon turns to suspicion when she discovers her grandmother left her entire estate—including a valuable antique watch, the family’s sole heirloom—to a charity called Oasis Care. On the surface, Oasis helps society’s outcasts, like Caroline’s alcoholic, homeless uncle. But as she digs deeper, Caroline uncovers a sinister plot that sends her running for her life on the dangerous streets of Los Angeles. Plunged into a world of addicts and broken souls and operating without a phone or a computer, Caroline finds sanctuary with her uncle and a ragtag group of outcasts while building evidence for her case. As she sifts through the shadowy world of the Goliath nonprofit, Caroline is also forced to confront her own dark shadows, casting doubt on her ability—and her sanity. MY REVIEW: Wow, this book was great.  It was so well plotted and had twists and turns I did not expect.  What I loved about it was that he characters were smart and fun to read.  You were quickly pulled in and I was never left hanging.  I was taken into a story that was thoroughly entertaining and important because the character are easy to relate to and the message is one that is relevant.  A great book to read this summer.  I cannot wait to go back and read the first book in the series.