Monday Book Review: Six Months, by Mona Sedrak

Six Months, by Mona Sedrak
Published October 2018 by The Wild Rose Press

About the Book:

For twenty years, Mikala Jacobson had it all: loyal friends, a precious little girl, and a man who adores her. Then double tragedy strikes and her perfect world shatters.

Good friends, Rena and Jake are instantly by her side, protecting her from her husband David's sordid secret life and his final drunken confession.

With their help, Mikala finds strength to rebuild and redefine her life. As her spirit and heart heal, she not only finds closure, but the beauty of a new love built upon an old friendship.

My Take:

The dramatic tale of loss, sorrow, and redemption tells a powerful story of second chances, mostly through the eyes of a mother who's spirit and soul have been broken by the ultimate loss - the death of her daughter and the subsequent suicide of the guilt-ridden husband who'd been driving the car. A bleak premise for sure, but also raw and real and heartbreaking in its lyrical telling.

The first chapter of this story weaves disjointedly back and forth, from a remembered good day to the frozen bleak cemetery to the fateful day of the car crash that took a child's life and shattered her mother. Not an easy breezy start to any story. Take it slow, and don't let it stop you. Seriously. This is the author's debut at fiction, and while the first pages are not smooth the story will slowly suck you in until you're turning pages in spite of yourself.

As the main character begins to slowly heal, so does the prose, becoming more orderly in its storytelling, trying to make sense of the tragedy instead of throwing it scattershot at the reader. And as the main character, Mikala, puts her heart back together and lets her friends back into her life, the words on the page become lyrical and flowing. By the end you won't want to put it down, eagerly wanting the happy ending that Mikala so desperately deserves.

This is not a romance novel, per se. Told in various voices and points of view, this is a story of loss and love and second chances for all the characters involved, in the most basic senses of the words. This is also not a fast read, or a pick-it-up-when-you -have-a-second kind of book. Grab a cup of tea, a box of tissues, and curl up on the couch for a good cry. I think fans of Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks will enjoy this story, and this new voice in fiction. I look forward to the next book, which I hope has a smoother first chapter but just as much emotion packed in its pages.

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Monday Book Review: A Chance for Sunny Skies, by Eryn Scott

A Chance for Sunny Skies, by Eryn Scott
Published July 2015 by Kristopherson Press

About the Book:

Sunny Skies is drowning. The problem, besides the whole not-being-able-to-breathe part, is that when her life flashes before her eyes, she doesn’t recognize any of it. Convinced the universe phoned in a default slideshow, Sunny gives in to the current.

After a fisherman snags the twenty-six year old in his net, she decides it's time to cast off her hermit like ways. When she meets slightly-less-awkward-than-her Brian, an archery-loving neat freak, she discovers that living her new life might be scarier than drowning. But scary or not, this may be the only chance for Sunny Skies.

My Take:
First I have to say how much I love the cover! Bright, cheery, simple, it drew me to the book. I also love the title - at least, before I knew it was talking literally about the main character...

A cross between women's fictional and chic lit, the story follows the improbably named title character Sunny Skies as she overcomes her debilitating social anxieties and learns to live life. Told in self deprecating first person POV, the book begins with Sunny almost drowning in the ocean and realizing how completely empty her life is. Rescued inadvertently by a random fisherman, she vows to make changes.

The book follows her on her journey of self help and self discovery, as she learns to make friends, stand up for herself and even find love. Her social awkwardness makes even normal situations funny with Sunny's snarky self-loathing and doubt. While the writing isn't perfect, the story is engaging and doesn't follow a straight predictable line. I enjoyed the author's fresh voice, and Sunny's pull-no-punches commentaries.

A fun read for a rainy day, but not the top of my recommendation list.


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