What You Wish For

What You Wish For by Katherine Center (2020) 306 pages

Sam Casey is a school librarian who had left a job in another state because she was in love with Duncan, a teacher at her school who was wacky and wonderful...but didn't seem to know she existed. She's now been established in a private school on Galvaston Island for the past 4 years, Texas, and mostly loving her situation, when it's been announced that Duncan will become the new principal at her current school. She's not sure what it means, and whether she'll need to flee this school, too, in order to save her heart. However, Duncan is no longer the happy-go-lucky dude he used to be. He's serious and seems bent on turning the school into a fortress.

The novel traces his changes, and parallels them to Sam's own life and what she has done to find joy, in spite of her own challenges. At the beginning I had a bit of trouble getting pulled into the storyline, but it didn't take long to want to see what would happen (and what would occur to cause trouble along the way).

Flirting with Disaster

Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar, 320 pages

Seven years ago, Meena and Nikhil spontaneously (AKA drunkenly) got married on a trip to Las Vegas, and while it was a bit of a shock to them both, they decided to give this marriage thing a go anyway. But now, Meena lives in DC, Nikhil lives in Houston, and it's been six years since they've spoken when Meena travels to Texas to make Nikhil sign the divorce papers she sent him. See, she has political ambitions, as well as a guy who wants to marry her, in DC, and all that's standing in the way is a signature. But just hours after she arrives in Houston, so does a hurricane that traps her with her estranged husband through the storm and subsequent flooding, and the forced proximity also forces some latent feelings back to the surface.

I'm always up for a good second-chance romance trope, but something about this one just didn't work for me. I don't know if it's the fact that Meena (a very capable and intelligent woman) was completely unaware of the hurricane that was heading toward Houston until well after she got there (wouldn't it have been on the news or talked about in the political circles she's part of, at least in passing?) or the fact that the whole problem could've been resolved if Meena and Nikhil had a single conversation at some point over the course of those 6 years apart or the fact that somehow Meena kept her marriage a secret from EVERYONE for that long... maybe it was all three. There are better romances out there.

The Turtle House

The Turtle House by Amanda Churchill, 296 pages

In 1999 Texas, architect Lia Cope has hit a wall with her career and moved back home, where she shares a room with her grandmother, Mineko. Mineko recently moved in with her son and daughter-in-law after her house burned down. The forced proximity of Lia and Mineko has led to bonding, as Lia records Mineko's stories from her youth in Japan through her immigration to the United States. But when Mineko is forced to live in a senior living facility, the pair plots a course to recreate the titular Turtle House, a long-lost beloved place for Mineko.

While the stories of Mineko's life in Japan, and as a WWII Japanese bride for an American soldier, are fascinating and engrossing, the more modern elements, particularly Lia's tale of college and the run-up to her return home, falls a little flat in comparison. I kind of wish it had simply been a historical fiction story of Mineko without Lia's involvement. Oh well.

Listen for the Lie

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera, 336 pages

Five years ago, Lucy's best friend Savvy was murdered after a wedding in their small Texas town. Lucy has no memory of that night, but given that she was found covered in Savvy's blood not far from the body, everyone assumes she did it, despite the fact that the police never charged her with the crime. In the aftermath, Lucy divorced her husband and fled to Los Angeles, where she's enjoyed a much more anonymous life...at least until a popular true crime podcaster picks up the cold case. Suddenly, everyone knows who Lucy is, and it's managed to end her job and relationship in one fell swoop. At the request of her beloved grandmother, Lucy heads back to her hometown and starts working with the podcaster to discover the truth of Savvy's murder, whatever that may be.

This was an interesting, quick read with a main character that is such a mess that you can't help but shake your head at her. But she also has a fantastically dark sense of humor, which made her so realistic and likeable to me. The book is alternately billed as a thriller and a mystery, though I'm not sure it really matters in the grand scheme of things, because it's wicked fun and keeps you guessing until the end.

Hello Stranger

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (2023) 320 pages

Sadie's finances are tight and she lives in her art studio, which she calls her hovel. However, she has just qualified for a prestigious competition in which she needs to paint a portrait within six weeks. She's totally psyched up about it, hoping to increase her income beyond the Etsy paintings she does for a living.

However, a crisis leads to medical tests in which a brain lesion is found. She's advised to have it removed as soon as possible, to avoid seizures or even a stroke. Unfortunately, after the surgery, she has a condition called acquired apperceptive prosopagnosia, also known as "facial blindness," which often, but not always, goes away in two to six weeks. Sadie cannot recognize anyone's face; facial features are all chopped up. She's in a panic because she can't even recognize the faces of her best friend or family. Plus painting faces is how she makes her living, and how she hopes to win the substantial prize that the winner of the portrait competition will be awarded.

The story covers Sadie's panic over the facial blindness as well as her learning to navigate the world, using cues other than people's faces. Her relationship challenges include her father, stepmother, and her stepsister. And there are a couple of love interests which creep in, making for an interesting story since she cannot see the faces of the men she's interested in. As time clicks down, and her facial blindness hasn't faded, what does that mean for her future?

The Bright Side of Disaster

The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center (2007) 249 pages

This book was responsible for me waking in the middle of the night to read more because the story was going so well, and then when things took a turn for the worse, I had to finish it, making me groggy the whole next day. But... it's the kind of story that a woman can relate to, even long past child-bearing years.

Jenny is engaged to Dean, and she is unexpectedly pregnant. Then Dean leaves her and the baby is born. All the details ring so true: Jenny's first-person narration of her pregnancy, heartbreak, labor, and then falling in love with her baby. It's a great story with its expected and unexpected ups and downs, a lot more than what I've indicated.  Plus what I've already said is on the book's flap, so it can't be called a spoiler. See if you can finish it before bedtime!

Queen of the Cicadas

Queen of the Cicadas by V. Castro, 214 pages

In the 1950s, Milagros left her family in Mexico to be a migrant worker in Texas, hoping to earn some money to help them survive and eventually immigrate to the U.S. themselves. Instead, she met a horrific end and the cotton plantation where she died became the site of drought and brutal unexplained deaths, spawning an urban legend among Mexican-Americans. Half a century later, Belinda Alvarez visits the plantation and begins digging into Milagros' story, with stomach-churning and surprising results.

This is a fantastic mash-up of folklore, urban legend, and the foundation of a new feminist religion, though it's really hard to categorize because of that. It's horror, yes, but it's more than that. Really, this could have been a much longer book, with more details about Milagros and Belinda, and I would still have been captivated.

Crooked Hallelujah

 Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford (2020) 288 pages

Fifteen-year-old Justine is a member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. When her father had left many years ago, her mother, Lula, took refuge in the Beulah Springs Holiness Church, complete with faith healing, prophetic visions, speaking in tongues, and the requirement of modest dress. Justine is feeling hemmed in by her mother's congregation. And now she is pregnant.

Justine gives birth to Reney, and although she works multiple jobs, they are just getting by. Justine drinks too much and the men she associates with are unreliable, sometimes scary. Reney often finds more stability in time spent with her grandmother and great grandmother.

The novel chronicles the relationships between the four Cherokee women over time, especially from the viewpoints of Justine and Reney. The bonds of love are strong, but so are the difficulties encountered. Justine feels helpless when her mother develops seizures but Lula prefers the prayers of her congregation to any medical care. Unable to change her mother's view, Justine bounces between Texas and Oklahoma, trying to find her place in the world. Reney grows up quickly, and struggles to avoid her mother's pitfalls.

The debut novel of a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Crooked Hallelujah feels authentic and loving, but heavy.

Deadly Forecast

 Deadly Forecast by Victoria Laurie (2013) 372 pages

Abby Cooper is a psychic consultant to the FBI, where Dutch, her fiancé works. As their wedding day approaches, they are tied up with a case that appears to be a suicide bombing in a Texas shopping mall, but Abby senses that that suicide bomber was participating against her will. When Abby gets the strongest feelings that Dutch is in danger, she does all she can to keep him away from the case, while she continues to work to solve the crime and find connections as other similar bombings occur. The book shifts its focus back and forth between a lead-up to their wedding, as the investigation deepens, to suspenseful moments on the wedding day itself. 

This was my first book by this author, who has pulled in a psychic from another of her series, MJ Holliday, to lend assistance to this case. It felt a bit strange to have the FBI bosses frequently asking the women for their psychic impressions, but once I suspended my disbelief, the mystery played out reasonably well.

Bluebird, Bluebird

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, 307 pages.

Darren Matthews, nephew of one of the first black Texas Rangers, and now a Ranger himself, is having some problems. His wife is upset with his career decisions, he's drinking too much, and he is currently under a semi-suspension for some questionable (to his superiors, anyway) actions. When a friend from the FBI calls to tell him about the killing of a black man in a rural Texas town, one that was quickly followed by the killing of a white woman, Darren hurries down to investigate. He quickly becomes aware of Aryan Brotherhood activity surrounding the case, and the whole thing becomes more complicated when he meets Geneva Weeks, and the dead man's widow. An interesting and exciting read.

Midnight Assassin

Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer by Skip Hollingsworth  321 pp.

In the mid-1880s the growing city of Austin, Texas suddenly experienced a disturbing series of assaults and murders. The first victims were servant women who lived in small shacks behind their employers' homes. The first women attacked were black women but soon white immigrants were targeted also. Later two young married women were killed and their bodies left in their backyards. The attacks were brutal, usually involving ax blows to the head and knife slashes to the body. Some of the survivors suffered permanent disabilities and one ultimately lived in the state asylum because of brain damage. Various men, mostly black, were arrested for the crimes and subsequently released due to lack of evidence. A few husbands were suspected in the later murders but there was no conviction there either. The attacks stopped as suddenly as they began. Some speculated that similar killings in another Texas town meant the killer had moved on. Others theorized that the killer had gone to England and was perpetrating the Jack the Ripper killings which began shortly after the Austin killings ended. An afterword by the author detailed his research and the difficulty in finding information. The story is similar to the Erik Larsen's Devil in the White City but not as riveting a story.