What I've been reading in December/January

I wasn't able to get hold of December's book club choice, I think it is later being published over here, so I downloaded the kindle version of the book that I had voted for instead.

Nineteen year old Jill Moss disappears near the Utah/Arizona border leaving a multitude of opinions as to where she may be or what may have happened to her.  One person knows the truth.  Norma Gallagher, who was part of the search and rescue operation, found Jill, safe and hiding in a cave. She confides to Norma that she had run away from her abusive boyfriend Jake Willis, fearing for her life if he should ever find her.  Wanting to keep Jill safe, Norma helps her reunite with her parents in California, keeping her whereabouts secret from the police, the press and most importantly from Jake.

Five years later, the disappearance of Jill makes headline news again when Jake is arrested for her murder.  Norma is conflicted, she knows he didn't murder her but to give that information to the police will divulge where Jill is hiding and potentially put her in danger.  

The trial approaches, press interest is reignited and public opinion is demanding retribution.  Jill's family refuse to come forward which means that Norma has to make an important decision.  Does she stay quiet to ensure Jill's continued safety from violence, or does she tell the truth, meaning that an innocent man does not go to prison?  Jake may be an abusive, violent man but he isn't a murderer.  Furthermore, would telling the truth put her, Jill and her parents in trouble for concealing information from the police?  What would you do?

My second book was The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka .

Katrina and Nathan are cowriters of a bestseller book.  They have a contract to complete a second in the series but between the completion of the first and writing the next, their relationship breaks up.  Dramatically. Neither will have anything to do with the other. There is no backing out of writing another book together even though they have spent three years avoiding each other.  After a lot of coercing from her partner, Katrina finally gives in and agrees to get the book over and done with.

To honour their contract they return to the house in Florida where they wrote the first book with the express intention of getting the second book written as quickly and painlessly as possible.  The book flits from 4 years ago to present day and you can feel the tension between them in the present day gradually ease as the book progresses.  The reader doesn't know exactly what has happened between them four years previously except at the time of book one, Nathan was married and Katrina was single, although the publisher, Chris, is obviously interested in her.  In the present day, Nathan is divorced and Katrina is engaged to Chris although it is quite obvious that he is very controlling in their relationship and something dramatic must have happened while writing the first book.

It feels as if Katrina and Nathan are living out their emotions through the dialogue of the characters in the book and in the chapters set in the past we gradually piece together what has happened at the time they wrote the first book. Was that chapter of their lives just a rough draft for their future?

I have to be honest and say I didn’t love this book. It was OK, but I felt it dragged in a few places.  I never felt that ‘I must just read one more chapter’ compulsion, at about 75% of the way through I simply wanted to find out whether Katrina had just vastly over reacted about something in the past and why Nathan couldn’t forgive her.  It did get very good reviews on some sites so maybe my expectations were just a bit too high!