Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi

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Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi  was published on March 11, 2025 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam. It opens with Claire finding out that her fiancé, Noah, isn't working where he said he was and is now ghosting her. Claire must find out why. Book Review: Claire, Darling by Callie Kazumi Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine / Bantam for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Claire Darling by Callie Kazumi for free in exchange for my honest review. I was absolutely thrilled when my request for a copy was approved because the synopsis was so good. From the beginning, I absolutely loved the main character of Claire and her work friend named Sukhi. Throughout the novel, we learn about Claire's past and how terrible her mother was towards her. I kept hoping that somehow we would learn who Claire's father was and would eventually connect with him. It's really no wonder Claire had no self confidence as an ad...
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Book Review: Sunset Island (Sunset Island, #1) by Cherie Bennett

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Complete Series of Sunset Island by Cherie Bennett

One of the books I chose to read as part of my rereading my way through my childhood is Sunset Island (Sunset Island, #1) by Cherie Bennett. As a first book in the series, it features teens at an au pair convention looking for work across the United States, and we meet three friends who get assignments on the wonderful Sunset Island in Maine . . . Emma Cresswell, Samantha "Sam" Bridges, and Carolyn "Carrie" Alden.

What I love about the Sunset Island book series is that it deals with a lot of issues that tweens and teens deal with and how sometimes it is blown out of proportion (and sometimes not). In the first edition of Sunset Island, it deals with secrets being kept . . . Emma Cresswell doesn't tell her friends Sam and Carrie and her boyfriend Kurt that she comes from a wealthy family because all she wants to do is fit in with everyone and try to find out who she is without her family's money. When she finally decides to tell her friends, they make some harsh judgements about wealthy people, and Emma chickens out of telling them about her true self.

Who hasn't kept a secret from someone? It could be big or small, but I think most people don't reveal everything about themselves, especially when they first meet someone. So, I definitely find this part of the book very believable. What I didn't find believable, even as a teenager, was that people would think that someone not mentioning their wealth was lying to people. Why would someone not mentioning something about themselves be a lie? There are just some things that are not anyone's business.

With that being said, it was an engaging read as a teenager, and I still found it interesting as an adult. I would give this book four out of five stars.
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