"The Fifth Avenue Story Society" (2020) - Book Review #StorySocTour
On Tour with Prism Book Tours
The Fifth Avenue Story SocietyBy Rachel Hauck
Christian Contemporary Romance
Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook & ebook, 400 Pages
February 4th 2020 by Thomas Nelson
An invitation to join The Fifth Avenue Story Society gives five New York strangers a chance to rewrite their own stories.
Executive assistant Lexa is eager for a much-deserved promotion, but her boss is determined to keep her underemployed.
Literature professor Jett is dealing with a broken heart, as well as a nagging suspicion his literary idol, Gordon Phipps Roth, might be a fraud.
Uber driver Chuck just wants a second chance with his kids.
Aging widower Ed is eager to write the true story of his incredible marriage.
Coral, queen of the cosmetics industry, has broken her engagement and is on the verge of losing her great grandmother’s multimillion-dollar empire.
When all five New Yorkers receive an anonymous, mysterious invitation to the Fifth Avenue Story Society, they suspect they’re victims of a practical joke. No one knows who sent the invitations or why. No one has heard of the literary society. And no one is prepared to reveal their deepest secrets to a roomful of strangers.
Yet curiosity and loneliness bring them back week after week to the old library. And it’s there they discover the stories of their hearts, and the kind of friendship and love that heals their souls.
Praise for the Book
"Hauck inspires and uplifts with this mix of tales." - Publishers Weekly
(Affiliate links included.)
About the Author
Rachel Hauck is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Wedding Dress, which was also named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times and was a RITA finalist. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pet and writes from her ivory tower.
Tour Schedule
Tour Giveaway
One winner will receive a print copy of The Wedding Dress (US only)
Ends February 19, 2020
My Review
Thank you in advance to TNZ Fiction/Thomas
Nelson and Prism Book Tours for providing a complimentary review. A positive
review was not required. All words and thoughts are my own.
I didn’t know quite what to expect from this
story. Was it a love story, coming of age, crisis of conscience, or mid-life
crisis?
I was interested in the idea of five complete
strangers being invited to a “story society” in a posh library. Two of the five
are exes which made this quite interesting from the beginning.
But, why them? What did they have in common?
Why were they invited to this “society”? No one has heard of this society, let
alone who sent the invites.
The five characters seem to be in some crisis
in their lives. And, despite the initial rough meeting, they decide they should
continue to show up even though they don’t know why they’re there or who
invited them.
The story is told in third person with five (5)
POVs – Alexa, Jett, Chuck, Ed, and Coral. And, each one of the characters are
deeply, realistically flawed.
Alexa (Prescott-Wilder)
thinks she is CEO material and trying hard to get the much-deserved promotion
she wants at work. She also happens to be Jett’s ex-wife. She receives her
invite while at work.
Jett
Wilder – Alexa’s ex-husband, and literature professor. He is doing a
dissertation on a childhood literary figure who he feels may be a fraud. Has an
overnight stay in jail, meets Chuck there. Gets invite in his “stuff”.
Chuck
Mays – A divorced Über driver who has a TRO against him that bars him from
seeing his kids; losing custody battle. Met Jett overnight in jail. Invite on
his car.
Ed
Marshall – A 70+ year old widower who is trying to write about his wife,
the love of his life. The two were only married for less than 10 years before
she died. Unknown how he got his invite.
Coral
Winthrop – The figure of CCW Cosmetics which her grandmother started. Coral
is also nicknamed “The Panicked Princess” for calling off her wedding at the
last minute to a prince. Her company is seemingly “tanking” without a known
reason. Unknown how she got her invite.
It starts off slow in the beginning and I
struggled to get into it, but by chapter 21 – it starts picking up.
I found myself not being able to put it down. I
was starting to get drawn in by not only the characters’ present, but their
past. They also begin to find their own “life stories” within their unlikely
friendship, and their situations. As I was reading, I was trying to navigate
the plot of this – what exactly was this novel? Was it a second-chance romance?
So, I was trying to read and figure it out. The cover reminds me of a cozy
mystery or romance.
An accident sidelines Alexa who has to rely on
her ex-husband for care. And, during this time they begin to get close to each
other. I was cheering for their reconciliation.
That wasn’t the only romantic aspect either –
one man was reconciling the loss of his marriage, one had run from a wedding,
and one was still in mourning for his lost love. That was another thing about
this novel – the different aspects and “places” of love.
Most of the novel plays out with alternating
each person’s POV.
In addition, Hauck added two mystery elements –
Coral’s company and whether or not Jett’s literary idol was a fraud. Though I
was more interested in Coral’s “drama”.
I found Coral’s situation more interesting –
her CFO (chief financial officer) and CEO (chief executive officer) are telling
her the company is floundering, which on the surface it looks like it is –
despite what Coral has heard. And, especially when Lexa brings something to
light.
Lexa is also dealing with her boss “using her”
and not recognizing what she brings to it.
This book was heart-breaking, frustrating, and
touching to read. It even had a haunting sadness to it. Still, there were
elements of hope and even some humor. One such quote in particular:
“I was
hatched by under a magnolia tree and raised by squirrels in the park. My
grandmother happened upon me one day and carried me up to my mother to raise as
a pet” – Coral when being asked about her parents.
[That line appeared in the ARC – and I hope it
made it to the finished version.]
I deeply enjoyed the music references:
Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner, and Gladys Knight to name a few. As I loved Fleetwood
Mac’s music since I was a child, this was a treat to see the group mentioned.
Even a TV show I liked as a teenager got a mention.
My heart nearly broke at one point when it
looked like everything was falling apart. Yet, at the end, everything came
together and in a beautiful way. I also enjoyed the subtle role that Gilda
played in everything.
As far as who sent the invites … that’s a
mystery for another day.
This is published by Thomas Nelson’s fiction
line, and they are a Christian based publisher. There were very few Christian
references until around chapter 30 when one of the characters shared about what
role that Jesus played in their decision.
This is also a very clean read with symbols
used in place of an actual curse/vulgar word.
RATING:
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐–
Goodreads
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐–
Bookbub
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐–
Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
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