Book Review: Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3)  by Heather Vogel Frederick  is the third book in a middle grade book series that is being rereleased. Chaos erupts in this third installment as the daughters in the book club get themselves into trouble. Each of the girls have big changes in their lives:  Jess is going to boarding school; Megan's grandmother comes to live with her; Emma starts a campaign against school uniforms; Cassidy has a lot of unexpected change coming to her family. Will the mother daughter book club stay together? I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Dear Pen Pal  by Heather Vogel Frederick with it's upcoming rerelease to the public. I always love a good book that involves books, even if its target audience is children between the ages of eight and twelve. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realized that it...
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Book Review: The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White

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NetGalley ARC Book Review of The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White
The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White is the story about Phoebe Manigault returning home to Mt. Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, South Carolina, to help her sister with their ailing mother. When past memories resurface, Phoebe is thrown back into some childhood turmoil.

I requested an Advanced Readers Copy ARC of The Last Carolina Summer from NetGalley, and I was ecstatic when the provided me with a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. So, a big thank you goes out to them!

When I began reading this story, I just happened to be vacationing in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. I loved hearing about the different places, including streets and a bridge called the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which I had to cross to get into Mt. Pleasant as well as Isle of Palms. It's always nice to be able to visualize the places and author writes about. With that being said, I'm not a fan of traveling over bridges, and one of the scenes of The Last Carolina Summer mentions a car going off the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, so any time I crossed that bridge, I was even more of a nervous wreck. Don't worry ... this isn't a spoiler as it's mentioned numerous times throughout the story, even in the beginning.

As for the characters, most of them were very likable with the exception of Phoebe's mother and sister. With that being said, by the end of the story, you understand both of them better and know why they were the way they were, which made my heart break a little for them and like them better.

Like always, Karen White pulled me into the novel right away. She's such a a talented writer and definitely has a way with words. I can't wait to read more from her. Lucky for me, she has a couple of series that I can binge read. I've read the first book in both of those series, and I loved those just as much as The Last Carolina Summer, which I gave five out of five stars.

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