Tuesday, May 14, 2024

New Book Review: The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts

 


The Best Life Book Club
Sheila Roberts
Mira Books
Release date: May 7th, 2024
Available at Amazon
Add to Your Goodreads

My Rating for The Best Life Book Club: 4 Stars

When Karissa Newcomb and her adorable  nine year old daughter move to Gig Harbor for a new start after a difficult divorce, Karissa is determined to not make friends or be as superficial as possible as friendships hurt and can betray you. What she finds is neighbors who are friendly, take her and her daughter under their wings and Karissa finds that friendship can mean more than she ever imagined as her heart heals and she finds the promise of something better on the horizon...if she trusts herself to grab it with both hands.

My Book Review:

Sheila Roberts newest women's fiction book is centered around Karissa Newcomb and her daughter who moved to a new town to start over after a particular devastating divorce and Karissa struggles to let her guard down after she was betrayed so horribly by her husband. A fresh start, a new job and soon new friends as her neighbors make her and her daughter feel at home in their new home and city. I love this author's past books and found her newest book, THE BEST LIFE BOOK CLUB, to be full of heart, friendship and more within the pages. It started out slow for me to get into the book but by midway, I was thouroughly enjoying the characters immensely and found myself rooting for everyone to get their own happy ever after. The writing is swift and entertaining, filled with some intriguing though at times predictable moments but that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the story of Karissa and her new friends adventures.

The reader meets Karissa, her daughter, Macy, with her neighbors, Alice, Margot and Alice's sister, Josie, soon all become close friends and when they start a book club the fun begins even as each character finds their own issues coming unpacked and learn how to jump start their lives in a  way that brings them happiness...if they are brave enough to grab a hold of it. I got to admit, I loved Josie the most. She had a caustic wit about her that hid a tender heart and had me snickering several times throughout the book. Margot and Alice are really fun and interesting women that befriends Karissa and her daughter. What I loved the most about these characters are how they built up one another whenever the other was beaten down with insecurity and doubts. That tribe of friends was a perfect for me to rally behind as they learned to find joy and purpose again as their lives moved in ways that left them wondering what was going on. The books they read and discussed became part of their story individually and collectively which made me eager to see within the story if these characters took heart to what they learned from them even as they scoffed over it all in private. The author does an amazing job in keeping each character unique and so different from one another that I never felt like they were just 'dialing it in' so to speak. The characters were wildly entertaining and kept my attention through out the book. 

THE BEST LIFE BOOK CLUB is more than a story about friendships but about each person's journey in life as it tosses curveballs that can make those weaker curl up and whimper. Ms. Roberts delivers a powerful story about the magic of friendship, family love and more as each of the main characters finds their true purpose in life and a friendship that delivers more than a superficial moment of emotion but a richer and much deeper love between all four of them that makes the reader keep reading till the very end. This is such an uplifting story that I was sad to see it end. I can't wait to see what else the author has in store for her readers as we discover Gig Harbor and the residents there that make me long to visit. If your looking for a perfect spring book club book or read, then I highly recommend THE BEST LIFE BOOK CLUB that delivers, laughs, promises, friendship and more within its pages. 


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