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The Otter Pup

The pup is looking very dramatic here but she wanted to say Hello! She is a funny character. I do not know how she will be once we return to work and school. She has spent so much time with us this past year. They are saying now that our high schools will return to in-person learning on 3/22. It seems a little unrealistic but it could happen. We chose a hybrid model so two days on campus and the rest remote.

As far as reading goes, I continue to fly through books. It’s great because I am reading everything I want to read, both review copies and highly anticipated books. It’s a good balance. I am putting a lot of thought into what to read next and isn’t that half the fun?

I did finally make a trip to the bookstore but you know what? I didn’t buy anything. I saw many books that caught my eye but I had them on my Kindle already and unless I know a book is a keeper, I don’t usually purchase a hard copy.

This post was supposed to be up yesterday but guess what? Your friend here forgot what day it was. Occupational hazard when you work from home and every single day blurs into the next. Sometime this week I have to hit the market and I am dreading it. I do not enjoy it at all but all the staples need to be restocked. I guess that will be my big day out! Sarcasm.

What movies have you seen lately that you can recommend? I’ve been watching TV but haven’t seen any movies really besides a Hallmark Christmas movie that I saw recently. Yep! I broke out the Hallmark movies because I was feeling meh and needed some joy. Those movies always do the trick. I watched The Most Wonderful Time of the Year with Henry Winkler and it was so charming.

Anyway, that’s it from me. My review of The Sanatorium posts tomorrow! Stop by if you’ve been curious about it.

Mother May I
By Joshilyn Jackson
William Morrow, 9780062855343, April 2021, 336pp.

The Short of It:

Motherhood can be tough. You try to do all the right things for your children, and you certainly go out of your way to keep them from harm, but sometimes their well-being is out of your control.

The Rest of It:

Bree Cabbat lives a pretty decent life. She has a nice home, her husband Trey is successful and that success allows her to spend time with her three children. Although she grew up poor and had dreams of being in the theater some day, her life is pretty good the way it is and she can’t complain.

One day, while attending her daughter’s rehearsal, she sets her son down in his baby seat and when she turns around, he’s gone. The school’s auditorium was empty. Who could have taken him? But then she is reminded of a strange woman she saw. She wasn’t entirely sure at the time if she was really there, lurking outside her bedroom window or if she had been dreaming it but when she sees the note where her baby used to be, she immediately knows that woman’s appearance was no coincidence.

As the details emerge, it’s clear that this is more than just a kidnapping for ransom set-up. This is personal and Bree, although desperate to find her son, realizes that she is going to have to play the game in order to get him back. Can she do that? Can she go along with this crazy woman’s demands? Can she do what she is being asked to do for the sake of her child? Would you?

This is a race-against-time story so once you pick it up, you will continue to flip those pages until you know how the story ends. I have now read at least three of Jackson’s books and two things are certain, she knows how to pull a reader in and knows how to tell a story. Mother May I has the added benefit of relaying a message and making a statement. This was rather important to me so I am glad she chose to go there even though perhaps the book could have been edited down a bit.

At this writing, Mother May I is scheduled to hit the shelves in April but the review copy has been glaring at me for weeks so I couldn’t wait anymore and had to read it. If you’ve read Jackson before then you know her books are a sure thing but if you haven’t read her yet, give her try.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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