A provocative and timely new novel by the author of Inheriting Edith, one that will haunt you long after the final page is turned…

Sylvie Snow knows the pressures of expectations: a woman is supposed to work hard, but never be tired; age gracefully, but always be beautiful; fix the family problems, but always be carefree. Sylvie does the grocery shopping, the laundry, the scheduling, the schlepping and the PTA-ing, while planning her son’s Bar Mitzvah and cheerfully tending her husband, Paul, who’s been lying on the sofa with a broken ankle. She’s also secretly addicted to the Oxycontin intended for her husband.

For three years, Sylvie has repressed her grief about the heartbreaking stillbirth of her newborn daughter, Delilah. On the morning of the anniversary of her death, when she just can’t face doing one…more…thing: she takes one—just one—of her husband’s discarded pain pills. And suddenly she feels patient, kinder, and miraculously relaxed. She tells herself that the pills are temporary, just a gift, and that when the supply runs out she’ll go back to her regularly scheduled programming.

But days turn into weeks, and Sylvie slips slowly into a nightmare. At first, Paul and Teddy are completely unaware, but this changes quickly as her desperate choices reveal her desperate state. As the Bar Mitzvah nears, all three of them must face the void within themselves, both alone and together.

This is the first book that I have read by this author and hope to read more of her work in the future.

An emotional story of today’s current problem about opiate addiction and the havoc it plays on families.

Sylvie Snow wakes up, with dread and profound sadness on the third anniversary of her daughter Delilah’s stillborn date. Her husband Paul, recently injured his ankle and was prescribed OxyContin but refused to take them because of the way it made him feel. Sylvie decides she will just take one pill to help her get her through this painful day that she doesn’t want to deal with the pain in her heart and mind.

Just one!!! And it helps.

A loss that, she, her husband and 12-year-old son, Teddy, have not dealt with either as a family or independently.

Liking how it makes her feel, she continues to take the pills and finds in some situations, why not take another? Until it is too late, and she is totally addicted. And will do things that she never thought possible just to be able to have those pills.

As Teddy comes upon his Bah Mitzvah and the rite of becoming a man, it is his wisdom that may just pull this family together.

The narrative alternates between Sylvie, Paul, and Teddy.

The author does an outstanding job of allowing the reader to truly understand and feel the emotions of all three characters. A story that will stay with a reader long after the last word.

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

Mailbox Monday

Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.

Tuesday:
THE NEW HUSBAND by D.J. Palmer ~ ARC from St. Martin’s Press
THEIR LAST WORDS by Steve Parker ~ eBook from JoffeBooks via free download.
THE TIME TRAVELER PROFESSOR: SILENT MERIDIAN by Elizabeth Crowens ~ TPB from Author
THE TIME TRAVELER PROFESSOR: A POCKETFUL OF LODESTONES by by Elizabeth Crowens ~ TPB from Author
THE SILENT HOUSE by Nell Pattison ~ eBook from Avon Books UK via NetGalley
Thursday:
THE GOD GAME by Danny Tobey ~ print ARC from St. Martin’s Press
PRETTY THINGS by Janelle Brown ~ eBook from Random House via NetGalley

1. I didn’t _____________until I ________________.
2. I try to ____________________.
3. My fear of _________ keeps me from _________.
4. If I were a ghost, I would haunt _________.

1. I didn’t start my family until I was 27.

2. I try to be kind, compassionate, and a good listener.

3. My fear of falling due to hardware in my back after 8 surgeries and the advice from my surgeon keeps me from going out in the winter unless absolutely necessary especially if there is any snow or ice on the ground.

4. If I were a ghost, I would haunt those that have done my family or myself wrong.

Mailbox Monday

Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.

Thursday:
THE PATIENT by Steena Holmes ~ eBook from Amazon Prime

And it has started…….

Sign-ups for the 2020 Challenges!!!!

Since I started blogging in 2009, I loved participating in many of the different challenges offered. I can honestly say, even though I didn’t complete many of them, it was just fun seeing what my reading year entailed.

Last year, I will admit, I was just a bit too ambitious and overzealous and signed up for too many. This year, I am promising myself I will only sign on for those that I have been doing for years.

This year, I even did poorly with my GR reading challenge. We have been so busy with tours for Partners In Crime Tours and Providence Book Promotions, that it definitely cut into my reading time.

Now let’s hope that I keep my promise and contain myself to signing up for too many, AGAIN!!!! I will be posting my progress here.

Also, we are always looking for tour hosts, I invite you to check out the great titles we are touring. We are starting off 2020 with some phenomenal titles so if you would like to join the team, the invitation stands! Just click on the Hosts tab and it will bring you to the sign up post.

1. _____________________ makes me nervous.
2. I should get rid of ____________, but I can’t because ________________.
3. My ideal home would include _________.
4. You would not find _________ in my ideal home.

1. Being of Italian decent and a Mother/Nana, most things makes me nervous.

2. I should get rid of some of my TBR books that have been on my shelves for years, but I can’t because I tell myself I will read them one day.

3. My ideal home would include a cozy reading library with floor to ceiling built in bookcases.

4. You would not find some of my furniture I have now in my ideal home.

Mailbox Monday

Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.

Monday:
THE LAST SCOOP by R.G. Belsky ~ ARC from Oceanview Publishing
Tuesday:
A CRUEL DECEPTION by Charles Todd ~ HC from William Morrow Books

1. __________________ is tasty.
2. If I was going to a Halloween party, I would go as _____________________.
3. If everything goes according to plan, _________.
4. _________ is the spookiest thing I have ever experienced.

1. Anything with chocolate is tasty.

2. If I was going to a Halloween party, I would go as a book.

3. If everything goes according to plan, I won’t open the bags of candy before Halloween (but I’m sure that won’t happen 🙂.

4. Castle Of Terror, a ride that was an attraction at a local amusement park that has since closed is the spookiest thing I have ever experienced.