That Certain Age by Elizabeth Buchan

Barbara and Siena - two women living fifty years apart. Both constrained by choice; one has too little and one has too much.

Siena, a 21st century woman, has so far managed to avoid the tick of the biological clock - her high-powered career as a stylist, making over a succession of tired, fraught housewives, has given her a horror of the toll a family can take on a woman. Without children she can control her own wonderful, ordered life. Only thing is, her husband Charlie longs for a baby...

In 1960, Barbara has been married to Ryder, an airline pilot, for twenty-four years. Her life revolves around running her home and keeping Ryder happy. She thinks she ought to be happy too. Then she meets the young and charming Alexander who reawakens a desire she thought had been long buried.

The intimate, inner lives of two women - destined never to meet, yet strangely linked - are woven together as they struggle to find resolution - between the families they love and their own desires. 

I didn't connect with either of the women.  One who had been a housewife with a loving husband who had a fling with a younger man. The other a career woman who obsessed on clothes and shoes and putting her career before her husband or relationship.  I kept waiting for what the connection between the two women would be.  In the last chapter it turned out to be a clock. Very disappointing and not at all what I expected.

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky

Deborah Monroe and her daughter, Grace, are driving home from a party when their car hits a man running in the dark. Grace was at the wheel, but Deborah sends her home before the police arrive, determined to shoulder the blame for the accident. Her decision then turns into a deception that takes on a life of its own and threatens the special bond between mother and daughter. 

 A small lie of omission becomes something greater and affects and impacts more lives than you would have thought. But in the aftermath of the accident, and subsequent omission, there is healing of hurt feelings and reconnection between family members.  Overall a feel good story with a nice, hopeful ending.

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

The Orphan Master's Son follows a young man's epic journey through the world's most secretive state, North Korea. Citizens of our beloved Democratic Republic of North Korea! Imagine the life of an orphan boy from nowhere who is plucked from his orphanage by the military, to be trained as a tunnel assassin, a kidnapper, a spy.

Fact and fiction intersect and gives the reader and insight into the harsh living conditions endured by the people who live under this strict regime.

Interesting and timely read considering how North Korea has been in the news lately.  Not somewhere I would like to visit.

A Wanted Man by Lee Child

Four people in a car, hoping to make Chicago by morning. One man driving, eyes on the road. Another man next to him, telling stories that don’t add up. A woman in the back, silent and worried. And next to her, a huge man with a broken nose, hitching a ride east to Virginia.

An hour behind them, a man lies stabbed to death in an old pumping station. He was seen going in with two others, but he never came out. He has been executed, the knife work professional, the killers vanished. Within minutes, the police are notified. Within hours, the FBI descends, laying claim to the victim without ever saying who he was or why he was there.

All Reacher wanted was a ride to Virginia. All he did was stick out his thumb. But he soon discovers he has hitched more than a ride. He has tied himself to a massive conspiracy that makes him a threat—to both sides at once. 

Took me a while to get into this, but as usual an entertaining Jack Reacher. He does his thing, saves the day and goes back to hitching a ride. 

The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell

Ellie Simons is a talented interior designer with a passion for eating - a passion that shows up on her considerably inflated waistline and leaves her resigned to life as a single woman. But when her Uncle Merlin summons his kin to a dreaded family reunion, Ellie's pride motivates her to rent a companion - Bentley T. Haskell, a devastatingly handsome writer of trashy novels who moonlights for Eligibility Escorts. Ellie's little white lie works fine until old Uncle Merlin up and dies, leaving his mansion to the happy couple on three conditions: Ellie has to lose 63 pounds, Ben must write a book without a word of smut in it, and they have to find the treasure hidden on Merlin's estate.

The prize seems to be worth the effort until Ellie and Ben start to receive threatening phone calls, malicious visitors in the night and clues to a possible murder. 

A mystery set in an old house on the cliffs somewhere in England.  Full of eccentric characters with a few surprise twists thrown in at the end.  It was ok. I'm glad it wasn't any longer or I probably wouldn't have finished it.

The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society by Darien Gee

At Madeline’s Tea Salon, the cozy hub of the Avalon community, local residents scrapbook their memories and make new ones. But across town, other Avalonians are struggling to free themselves of the past: Isabel Kidd is fixing up her ramshackle house while sorting through the complications of her late husband’s affair. Ava Catalina is mourning the love of her life and helping her young son grow up without his father. Local plumber Yvonne Tate is smart, beautiful, and new to Avalon, but finds that despite a decade of living life on her own terms, the past has a way of catching up—no matter where she goes. And Frances Latham, mother to a boisterous brood of boys, eagerly anticipates the arrival of a little girl from China—unprepared for the emotional roller coaster of foreign adoption.

Enter Bettie Shelton, the irascible founder of the Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society. Under Bettie’s guidance, even the most reluctant of Avalon’s residents come to terms with their past and make bold decisions about their future. But when the group receives unexpected news about their steadfast leader, they must pull together to create something truly memorable.

I found this book hard to get into at first, too many characters made it confusing. Once I had got into the story and had it straight who was who I really enjoyed it. A lovely, feel-good read. 

Echoes In Death by J D Robb

As NY Lt. Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke are driving home, a young woman―dazed, naked, and bloody―suddenly stumbles out in front of their car. Roarke slams on the brakes and Eve springs into action.

Daphne Strazza is rushed to the ER, but it’s too late for her husband Dr. Anthony Strazza. A brilliant orthopedic surgeon, he now lies dead amid the wreckage of his obsessively organized town house, his three safes opened and emptied. Daphne would be a valuable witness, but in her terror and shock the only description of the perp she can offer is repeatedly calling him “the devil”...

While it emerges that Dr. Strazza was cold, controlling, and widely disliked, this is one case where the evidence doesn’t point to the spouse. So Eve and her team must get started on the legwork, interviewing everyone from dinner-party guests to professional colleagues to caterers, in a desperate race to answer some crucial questions:

What does the devil look like? And where will he show up next?

Another excellent addition to the series. This one had more mystery and investigation than Eve and Rourke's relationship as the centre of the book. Of course their relationship is still central to the story.  I love this series. She's a tough cop but he is so protective of her.