Tag Archives: Marybeth Whalen

Happy Release Day — Every Moment Since

1 Oct

Happy release day to Marybeth Whalen! Her newest novel, Every Moment Since, is now available. Don’t you just love the cover?! This one immediately hit my TBR list when I found out about it. Check out all the details below.

A small Southern town. An ordinary Saturday night. A little boy disappears without a trace.

Everyone in Wynotte, North Carolina, knows the name Davy Malcor. Knows the video clip of him juggling four balls, “All at the very same time!” Knows the Marty McFly jacket his mother made for his birthday that he wore proudly, and often. But no one knows what happened to him the night he went missing more than twenty years ago.

When the jacket is unexpectedly uncovered, the cold case reopens, and Davy’s family is thrust into yet another media storm. But at the heart of the story are four people forever changed by one single night: Thaddeus Malcor, Davy’s older brother, created the life of his dreams by writing a bestselling memoir about his family’s experience and is enjoying success and notoriety as a result, even if the memoir doesn’t quite reveal the whole story. Tabitha Malcor, his mother, is divorced and living alone, advocating for victims’ rights and faithfully cataloging her regrets each week, never including her biggest regret of all. Anissa Weaver was just a kid herself when Davy went missing, and her connection to him is one she cannot reveal as she serves as the Malcor family’s Public Information Officer. And, long suspected in Davy’s disappearance, Gordon Swift has kept his head down and scraped together a decent life. But the new attention to the case makes it impossible to hide from the public, and the past.

With hauntingly vivid prose, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen peels back the curtain on the inner turmoil of those who were left behind in the small Southern community as they pick up the pieces that remain and press forward into the light to find hope and healing.

Marybeth Mayhew Whalen is the author of Every Moment Since and 9 previous novels. Marybeth received a BA in English with a concentration in Writing and Editing from NC State University a long time ago and has been writing ever since. She is the co-founder of The Book Tide, an online community of readers where “a rising tide raises all books.” Marybeth and her husband Curt are the parents of six kids who are now all in various stages of adulting. A native of Charlotte, NC, Marybeth now calls Sunset Beach, NC home.

Top 10 Tuesday — Most Anticipated Books of The Last Half of 2024

25 Jun

Happy Tuesday! Can you believe that 2024 is almost half over? Even though I am so behind on my reading, I can’t resist adding upcoming releases to my staggering TBR pile. No apologies, though. 😉 There are a variety of genres (although there is A LOT of suspense) represented in my list, so I hope there is one that will pique your interest.

For more bloggers’ lists, check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Books of The Last Half of 2024!

Between The Sound And Sea by Amanda Cox

Cold Vengeance by Nancy Mehl

Cornered by Lynette Eason/Lynn Blackburn/Natalie Walters

Every Moment Since by Marybeth Whalen

The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock

Lethal Standoff by DiAnn Mills

Over The Edge by Irene Hannon

Specters in The Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright

Something Borrowed by Susie Finkbeiner/Rachel Scott McDaniel/Allison Pittman

Target Acquired by Lynette Eason

Book Review: She Makes It Look Easy

21 Feb

403702_w185When Ariel Baxter meets her new neighbor, Justine Miller, she thinks, “I want what she has.” Justine’s world of clutter-free counters, fresh-baked bread, homemade crafts, neighborhood play dates, and organization techniques sparks her admiration. But when she hears rumors about Justine’s real home life, she wonders . . . is Justine’s “perfection” too good to be true?

marybeth-whalenMarybeth Whalen speaks regularly through her association with the Proverbs 31 Ministries and served as the general editor of For the Write Reason and The Reason We Speak.

She and her husband, Curt, have six children and are active in their community near Charlotte, North Carolina.

Visit Marybeth’s website at www.marybethwhalen.com.

My Impressions:

She Makes It Look Easy is a novel I have wanted to read for a very long time. The premise — suburban women with picture perfect lives hiding the real truth — is intriguing, especially since the subject is handled by a Christian author. What I found was insightful and a little bit too close to home.

Ariel Baxter has finally made it. A new home in a very desirable neighborhood, the kind filled with so many amenities, promises the perfect life. Her back door neighbor is also the perfect woman to show her the ropes and help her discover the life she thinks she always wanted. But behind the perfect home, children, and marriage, Justine is not happy. Her dreams for the future don’t include her current life and certainly not Ariel.

She Makes It Look Easy could have become soap opera-ish, a la Desperate Housewives. But Whalen takes the subject matter and treats it with seriousness. Ariel’s husband warns her early on about putting Justine on a pedestal, predicting that what Ariel sees may not live up to her expectations. This novel is a good lesson on looking below the surface, desires of the heart and judging others.

If you are looking for a good women’s fiction read, choose She Makes It Look Easy.

Highly Recommended.

(I purchased this book for my Kindle. The opinions expressed are mine alone.)

To purchase this book, click on the image below.