Review: Magnolia Nights

Magnolia Nights by Ashley Farley

Expected publication: September 12th, 2017
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received Magnolia Nights free in exchange for an honest review from the promotion team of caffeinated book services

Goodreads Summary

Ellie Pringle has spent endless hours and countless dollars working with a therapist to remember the lost years of her childhood. She’s baffled and more than a little intrigued when the grandmother she hasn’t seen in thirty-four years dies and leaves her a fortune. The time has come to face her past in person. Still reeling from a recent breakup of a long-term relationship, and with nothing to keep her in San Francisco, Ellie packs her meager belongings and boards a plane for the South Carolina Lowcountry. Standing in the entryway of her grandmother’s antebellum home on South Battery Street in Charleston, Ellie faces the first of many ghosts who will soon haunt her. On her first night in the creepy, creaking mansion, as she’s perusing the titles in a dusty bookcase, she comes across her deceased mother’s leather-bound journal. Her mother’s words create more unanswered questions and send her on a quest to find more journals. As Hurricane Irma bears down on the South Carolina coast, Ellie encounters Julian Hagood, a handsome architect who has the talent to restore her dilapidated mansion and the charm to mend her broken heart. But as Ellie reads her mother’s diaries, they dislodge a stone in the wall that safeguards her memories, causing her world to come crumbling down. Revelations about her childhood lead Ellie on a harrowing journey of discovery that will hold readers spellbound until the dramatic conclusion.

Ellie Pringle is the primary benefactor of her grandmother Eleanor's estate and inherits a great fortune. Besides the inheritance, she is also left with a lot of emotional damage and hidden traumatic memories of her childhood, which she intends to uncover with the help of her family, friends, and therapist. Along with her journey to discover her past, we encounter some characters that stick out in my mind. Maddie, the caretaker, Abbott, Ellie's biological father, Julian the love interest, Lia her twin sister and her two cute little nieces. Magnolia Nights is an incredible story about a daughter who is tormented by her emotionally abusive and overbearing mother. Growing up in a wealthy household under strict rules, Ashton plans to escape her mother's terrifying grip and decides to move to New York to make a fresh start which leads her to a successful modeling career. She eventually finds herself pregnant, and rumors about her baby father(Abbotts) infidelity leaves her no choice but to go live back home until the baby(ies) are born. Ashton gives birth to twins: Ellie and Lia. Ellie's grandmother, Eleanor, does not take kindly to the news of her daughter's "mistakes" and proves to be the source of Ellies mother's, Ashton's, demise and death. The book chapters fluctuate character points of views over the span of 35 years or more between Ashton, Abbott, and Ellie, while the story is mainly focused on Ellie the main character. I love an HEA, and the book was fantastic.

About the Author

Ashley Farley writes books about women for women. Her characters are mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives facing real-life issues. Her goal is to keep you turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. If her story stays with you long after you've read the last word, then she's done her job. After her brother died in 1999 of an accidental overdose, she turned to writing as a way of releasing her pent-up emotions. She wrote SAVING BEN in honor of Neal, the boy she worshipped, the man she could not save. Ashley is a wife and mother of two young adult children. While she’s lived in Richmond, Virginia for the past 21 years, part of her heart remains in the salty marshes of the South Carolina Lowcountry where she grew up. Through the eyes of her characters, she’s able to experience the moss-draped trees, delectable cuisine, and kind-hearted folks with lazy drawls that make the area so unique. Visit her website for more information

Madonna's Brother Lives To Tell

Life with My Sister Madonna by Christopher Ciccone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love reading a good autobiography once in awhile, and Madonna has always intrigued me. I listened to her music growing up, and whenever I hear her early songs, it brings back feels and memories for me. For example: Like a Virgin, Holiday, Live to Tell. I must admit I do love her. Always have. I never knew her brother, so reading from his point of view is new and exciting I think.

It took awhile to finish this biography autobiography telling of Madonna from her brother's perspective. I felt sorry for him most of the time because I know how sisters can be. It mustn't have been that easy for Christopher Ciccone to be controlled by a control freak. I'm not sure if Madonna would be in a better position if it weren't for her brother. It sounds like Madonna very much used him and then abused him which lead to him writing this book as part of his therapy which Madonna paid for nonetheless.
I liked the family pictures and other photo references of Madonna's life and his.
I never knew Madonna had a brother who traveled and worked for her on tours nor had I known he was gay. I do remember how most of her dancers were gay yadda yada. Everyone knows, but her brother managed to keep aloof somehow at least he managed to stay unpopular which is sad in a way.