"The Dream Daughter" by Diane Chamberlain was a Big Hit for Both of Us!

In The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain, Carly is going to give birth, but the doctor tells her it does not look good for the long run.  Her brother-in-law comes up with a wild solution, but will Carly go for it?  If she does, will it work?  This is a wild book to say the least!  Carly is a great character and you have to pull for her.  Some good twists and turns that I did not see coming kept me involved!  I especially loved the last part of the book!  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars) 

Karen's review, 11-30-18:
In The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain, shortly after Carly gets news that her husband was killed in Vietnam only weeks after he left in 1970, she learn she is pregnant.  Early in her pregnancy, she receives bad news that there is something wrong with her baby's heart and that it is fatal!  Carly is so devastated by the news, that she is willing to do anything to save her child--including time travel to the year 2001 so she can try fetal surgery!  Her brother-in-law, Hunter, who she met when she was his physical therapist was a time traveler from 2013 and talks her into giving it a try.

I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it to women.  It's a combination of contemporary and science fiction.  I don't think men would enjoy it as much.  It certainly has adventure but centers around Carly's fight to save and get to know her child, Johanna.  It has touching scenes and lots of unexpected twists along the way.  I was a little disappointed when it ended.  It even has two dogs in it and some funny parts as well.  I found it to be thought-provoking too and had trouble putting this down.  I really looked forward to getting back to it!
(5 stars)

Teaser from page 25:  "It doesn't matter.  What matters is that during her studies, she discovered it's possible to travel forward and backward in time."

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"Pretending to Dance" by Diane Chamberlain

Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain is the story of Molly, a woman who after a miscarriage, cannot have children and seeks to adopt with her husband, Aiden. They live in San Diego and are looking into an open adoption so the birth mother can still be involved with the child. Molly, having been adopted herself in an open adoption, keeps that from her husband. Molly grew up in North Carolina on a family mountain. Her birth mother lives on the mountain with the rest of Molly’s family and gives Molly dance lessons. Nora, Molly’s adoptive mother, actually has a civil relationship with her husband’s former lover and Molly’s birth mother. Talk about a dysfunctional family, this was it. Molly’s father had MS and Molly was only 14 when he died. Molly is haunted by her past and needs to forgive so she can move on with her life. This book is filled with emotion and is all about relationships and family secrets.

I enjoyed this book very much because it felt so real. The story line about Molly’s childhood is heartbreaking as her father’s illness gets worse and Molly begins rebelling against her parents, going through a coming of age period. There are funny parts that balance out the sad things and touching moments throughout the book. This was a bit of a tear-jerker for me. I think this would make a good book club read and highly recommend it. The part with the father and Molly reminded me a bit of The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. I would love to see a sequel to this with Molly’s own family and how that would play out. (Karen's review, 5 stars)


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We Both Liked "The Silent Sister" by Diane Chamberlain (Updated)

In The Silent Sister, Riley believes her older sister killed herself as a teenager.  Twenty years later she finds evidence that this is not true.  As Riley seeks the truth, she will be hit with some things that will shake all the truths she did believe.  

This book rocks!  It's all good but as slowly the secrets and lies come out into the open you as a reader are wowed.  LOVED IT A LOT!
(Gerard's review 3/26/15 5++ stars)

The Silent Sister starts out a bit slow with Riley getting her father's house ready to sell after his death.  Boy, did this bring back memories for me though having gone through this process with my dad.  I could certainly identify with her through this process.  The story picks up when Riley believes her older sister may not have committed suicide many years ago but may actually be alive somewhere and begins her search.

During this time, the author gives us a look at what's been happening with Lisa, Riley's older sister, who is a fugitive because she was charged with murder and faked her death to avoid prison when she was 17.  I couldn't help pulling for Lisa even though her younger brother, Danny, thought she should pay for what she did--not only for committing murder but also for ruining their family.
 
I realize you may think I've given spoilers here, but I haven't.  There are lots of surprises in this book and I loved how the author developed them gradually.  This book is not only about family secrets, but about the extent parents go to protect their children and how one event can tear a family apart.  I really liked this book which was no surprise to me because I also liked The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes and Necessary Lies, and The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain.  If you like stories about family drama and lots of twists and turns, you'll enjoy this one, I'm sure!  I'd certainly recommend this one for a book club read. 
(Karen's review 3/23/15, 5 stars)

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"Necessary Lies" by Diane Chamberlain--Good Book Club Read!

This is my favorite of hers yet!

Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain is an interesting read about Jane, a good person, but not so good a social worker. Recently married to a pediatrician, Jane insists on becoming a social worker against her husband’s wishes and soon discovers they should not have gotten married. She constantly is at odds with her supervisor over the rules and procedures that conflict with what she believes is the right thing to do. Jane is so dedicated to helping her clients that she puts her marriage and her job at risk. This book addresses several issues: marriage, teenage pregnancy, poverty, sterilization, and can social work.

I loved this book! I felt bad for Robert, Jane’s husband. I enjoyed getting to know Jane’s clients and trying to figure out who the fathers were, and where and when “Ivy and Mary was here” was carved into a closet. This book tugged at my heart but I was relieved when it had a happy ending.  I thought it was really cool how the author included the epilogue as part of the story! This book is both thought provoking and gripping. I highly recommend this one and think it would be a great read for a book club.

Other books I liked by this author:
The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes
The Midwife's Confession

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"The Midwife's Confession" by Diane Chamberlain

The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain is full of surprises and mother-daughter moments.  When Emerson and Tara start searching for answers to why their best friend, Noelle the midwife, committed suicide, they are shocked to find out things they never knew about her.  Noelle had many secrets that were kept for many years but eventually came out after she died.

I liked this book but it does have quite a few characters to keep straight and jumps from the present to the past all through it which sometimes was hard to follow.  I think women would enjoy this book much more than men, just because it focuses on relationships rather than action.  It's a great read about friendship, betrayal and mothers and daughters.  It has discussion questions in the back which makes it very conducive to a book club selection.

I also liked another book by this author:  The Secret Life Of Cee Cee Wilkes which has more action in it.

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"The Secret Life Of CeeCee Wilkes" by Diane Chamberlain

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes is a very good interesting book about mother/daughter relationships and which shows how people change over the years.  A gullible, love starved 16-yr.-old girl, CeeCee, gets involved over her head assisting with a kidnapping that turns out badly.  She makes some very poor choices and gets a new identity and a baby to raise that is not hers.  So many people’s lives are affected by the decisions she makes and I found myself pulling for CeeCee to make the right decisions along the way but time and again, she doesn’t.  It is a book about living with consequences of our actions and morality.

It’s a great story and I liked how it shows the feelings of both mothers and daughters.  I also liked the idea of the mother dying of Cancer writing letters to her daughter to be opened in the future as she got older, even though the daughter opened them all at once.  

I highly recommend this and would suggest it for a book club. This is a must read!

 Have you read this one? What did you think of it?