Book Review: Vacancy (The Dust, #2) by Jann Alexander

Vacancy: Secrets and Second Chances in Small-Town Texas by Jann Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Secrets and second chances exact a price.

Vacancy is the second book in Jann Alexander’s West Texas-set women’s fiction series, The Dust, and in this novel two women at different points in their lives face tragedy and second chances, finding common ground in their losses. Keep a box of tissues at hand as these characters quickly wedge their way into your heart.

Helen McCabe, the middle-aged, widowed kindergarten teacher, is shocked by her husband’s sudden death, suffering the uncertainties and questions it prompts. In her grief, she becomes entangled in the life of one of her small students, a winsome, shy girl named Jillie, and concerns herself well beyond the boundaries she’d normally recognize. Charlene Simpson, Jillie’s mother, has been trapped in an abusive relationship with Jillie’s deadbeat, drunk of a father, and a new pregnancy is the last thing she needs. Not only is he in no position to welcome another child into her tenuous living situation, but her boyfriend, Ray, who didn’t want Jillie or Mick, his young teenage son from an earlier marriage, is going to take out his displeasure on her with his fists. Both women have drifted through their lives up to this point, and their conflict over Helen’s excessive interest in Jillie motivates both to seek a better way. A terrible accident reveals they have more in common than they ever thought.

Alexander’s characters are strong and vividly crafted, and their choices drive the plot. I was immediately drawn into these two women’s lives, waiting for the next shoe to drop because of the ominous foreshadowing from the beginning of the book. The descriptions of the struggling, dusty West Texas town of Hartless are cinematic, and the harsh extremes of the High Plains weather add another layer of challenge to everyone’s daily existence. The town’s name itself hints at what the besieged young single mother may find there when the dust settles.

I recommend VACANCY to readers of women’s fiction, especially those who want strong female protagonists and character-driven stories.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Literary Life Book Campaigns.

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Book Review: Dinked (Serenity Acres: Where Secrets Barely Stay Hidden, #1) by Crystal Quast

Dinked: Serenity Acres: Where Secrets Barely Stay Hidden by Crystal Quast
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Intriguing, complex, and highly entertaining, with a tantalizing underlayer of secrets throughout!

Dinked, the first book in author Crystal Quast’s new Serenity Acres cozy mystery series, is sly and clever and filled to capacity with tantalizing hidden secrets. The community residents seem to have taken Sir Michael Caine’s quote to heart. “Be a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath.” There’s so much going on that is invisible, at first, to the naked eye.

When an expansion to Serenity Acre's pickleball courts is presented at the annual general meeting, the community is strongly divided over the project. While some view the move as a way to inject new life into their slowly declining property values, others are opposed to encumbering the community's healthy emergency fund. But there's also a faction that may be loath to disturb the status quo to prevent the discovery of secrets they don't want brought into the light of day.

As the debut novel in the series, the author has the daunting task of crafting a suitable fictional setting for the action and then populating it with the principal characters. Quast weaves a wonderful backdrop and diverse palette of players, with secrets and backstories that offer vast potential to draw upon for this book and the future. The characters are introduced organically as they interact with the main character, Margot Fields, and the resulting story is quite an ensemble effort. Still, it does take some time to develop the community and the myriad relationships; however, the payoff is well worth the reader’s patience and attention to the presented details. The catty repartee and double-edged barbs make for delicious dialogue, strongly reminding me of the women who lived on Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewives.

With its many twists and turns and sophisticated, clever plot, I recommend DINKED to cozy mystery readers, especially those with an interest in pickleball or enjoy country club-style shenanigans.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

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