These Heathens

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie, 272 pages

Seventeen-year-old Doris has dreams of one day leaving the small Georgia town where she lives. When she discovers that she's pregnant, that dream is called into question — unless she can get an abortion. But how can she do that when the town midwife goes to church with her conservative parents? Enter Doris' favorite teacher, who takes her to the Atlanta home of her wealthy childhood best friend, a woman who has offered to pay for the illegal procedure. While she's there and awaiting the doctor, Doris is first scandalized by and then drawn to the influential people who come through the house, civil rights activists and celebrities that she's only read about in the pages of Jet and Ebony. And she's even more shocked to discover that her teacher fits right in. While she still knows she doesn't want a baby, Doris isn't quite sure what she does want, and the changemakers around her make her question everything.

Based loosely on the story of the author's grandmother, this historical fiction novel offers a small slice of life during the the civil rights movement. It's a quiet story without big protests or events, but that only makes it more believable and realistic — after all, life is what happens in the everyday moments between those headline events. Highly recommended.

I Think They Love You

I Think They Love You by Julian Winters, 336 pages

Denz's workaholic dad has just announced his retirement from the family-run, super-successful party-planning business, and even though he's always been a bit flighty and unserious, Denz really wants to be named his father's successor as CEO. To convince the family that he's serious about the commitment that comes with the job, Denz decides to fake a relationship and is somehow forced into asking for help from his ex, Braylon, the man who dated him through college and then broke his heart. But Braylon needs Denz's connections to the mayor to make his own career succeed, so he agrees. Unsurprisingly, given that this is a romance novel, what starts as very fake turns very real when the pair starts to rediscover what drew them together in college.

Combining a second-chance romance with a fake-dating trope is a risky choice in a romance novel, but somehow the flashbacks to the messiness of the characters in college makes it much more believable — neither one was ready for the commitment then, though they certainly are more primed for it now. The flashbacks were a bit confusing at times (it wasn't always clear what was then and what is now), but otherwise this was a lovely contemporary romance.

The Break-up Book Club

 

The Break-up Book Club by Wendy Wax (2021) 364 pages

Four main characters deal with relationship troubles: Judith feels that she has always been in the supporting role as wife and mother and wants to star in her own life. Jazmine is a former athlete who lost her sweetheart and her ability to go pro in tennis in an accident years ago. Sara finds out that her husband is living a double life as he works in another city while she lives with his mother while the mother—never close to Sara—has been recovering from surgery. Erin's fiancé broke up with her a week before their wedding, upending the life story she had imagined for them since they were children.

What do these women have in common? Their friendship through a monthly book club at the local bookstore, Between the Covers. A host of colorful secondary characters—some friends, some family—helped round out the story. This book was a joy, making me care about everyone (except the baddies, of course). I loved watching the women work through their pain and distrust. There were a few surprises which made me exclaim out loud!

Vengeance: a Novel / Zane, 274 pp.

Wicket is a pop megastar with a lot of big secrets and a very painful past.  Her 40th birthday prompts her to return to Atlanta, her childhood, to attempt to exorcise her demons by exacting revenge against former friends who've wronged her.

I had mixed reactions to this story - Wicket is a disturbing main character in many ways.  Among other things, her difficult childhood has resulted in an intense BDSM 'problem' which is outlined in eye-popping, vicious detail.  Truly, I had no idea.

On the other hand, Zane does a great job of depicting the growth and change of a character through self-reflection and psychotherapy. In her 'Commentary by Zane' closing chapter she makes clear that her explicit goal is to remind readers that personal growth is always possible.  Bibliotherapy!  I am totally on board with that.