Book and Product Reviews by Roundtable Reviews

 Release Date - September 25, 2018 TR Harlow is badly burned, and it's a call his daughter, Sara, never expected or even wanted to receive. She hasn't seen him in years, not after he abandoned his family for fame in the art world. Yet, now all of these years later, he needs a carer and Sara's the only one on his list. Despite her hesitation, Sara takes him in. It's adding strain to her marriage, but her son is bonding with his grandfather, and that makes her wonder if it's time to forgive old hurts and move on with the years that are left. The Girl Made of Clay is a very emotional, touching story. It tugs at the heartstrings and keeps you engaged from the start. Sara's lack of connection with her dad is apparent, and I felt it also fed a lot into the distance between her and her husband. She simply had a tough time connecting with men in her life. Her son, Sam, was a joy and made the book.

 Release Date - August 16, 2022 Lucy's built a grand career in hotel management and rebranding and was nearing the retirement she dreamed of, but it all fell apart when her boyfriend/hotel mogul took off with every penny of the retirement and pension funds and hotel savings. Two years later, she's been cleared of the crime, but suspicions remain high that she knew what he was doing. She cannot get a job in the industry in the U.S., but she's offered the chance to help a French inn and takes it. In a quaint French city, Lucy learns the job is far more hands-on than she realized. The inn needs serious upgrading if it's going to draw visitors, and there are several live-ins who don't want to lose their private lifestyles to the hustle and bustle of a hotel. But, Lucy doesn't have many other options, so she dives in and soon finds herself enamored with the different lifestyle. The question remains though - does she have what it takes to fully restore a rundown est

 Release Date - September 28, 2021 When Bryan Bliss wrote Thoughts & Prayers in 2020, he hoped for change. We all, well most of us, want to see change. Then Uvalde happened, the shooting at a busy grocery store in Buffalo happened, the 4th of July parade shooting happened. There have been shootings at a busy fun park, a Chattanooga night club, a NYC subway, and that's just a small portion of the list.  I've been the parent on the other end of the phone hearing a child say, "We're in lock down. We don't know much other than there's a guy in the parking lot and police are here. Just in case, we love you." That ended peacefully. I cannot imagine being the parent where it doesn't end peacefully. It breaks my heart. Thoughts & Prayers is a story told from three perspectives. Claire, Eleanor, and Brezzen were all hiding together under a stairwell while a shooter killed several of their peers. All three lives were changed that day, and they can nev

 Release Date - August 9, 2022 This setting drew me in, even before the characters did. It's set on a vineyard in Pennsylvania, and features the Brady family. Harry Brady's left behind his painful past in Los Angeles while he decides whether his medical career is worth returning to, but for now the break is important to him. He needs time to heal and determine what's next. Rowan McKinnon is reeling from heartbreak and has a chance to help the Brady family turn their new vineyard into something magical. Her PhD in botany gives her the insight needed to help the long-neglected vines. Her attraction to Harry stands in the way. She's fine with one night stands, but she's around him too much for that to be the case. As Harry and Rowan work with the family to restore the vineyards and turn it into a thriving B&B, they can't help but develop feelings for each other. But, how can two people who don't have any plans to fall in love again keep exactly that from

 Release Date - August 2020 Daisy and Simon are parents of a lovely, talented young daughter and seem to be in a happy marriage, but outside appearances aren't always what they seem. Simon desperately wants another child, but in their 40s now, they've already been through one fertility struggle and Daisy's not sure she can do it again at this age. Plus, Simon's drinking seems to be worsening. Everything goes horribly wrong when Simon drinks too much at a party. Their world is thrown into chaos, and Daisy struggles to figure out the next steps in keeping her family whole. How did I feel about Lies, Lies, Lies ? It's clearly taken me time to even finish the book. I struggled with it and should have quit, but I wanted to keep going and get this one checked off my list. The basis of this story comes down to the secrets people keep from each other and how they have the power to destroy everything. As a result, I didn't like Simon or Daisy, and it's hard to root