This was an incredible book to finish 2017 with. After a number of mediocre reads this year, I laughed and I cried along with Sarah Pullen and her family, as her beautiful, vivacious son, Silas, battled with an aggressive brain tumour. Sadly, after battling 'Bob' for nearly two years, he eventually lost the fight, leaving the family devastated, and struggling to pick up the pieces of their lives.

One thing that struck me in the early chapters was the comment that the survival rate for cancer patients is greatly enhanced by being proactive; by researching and pushing for the newest, most up-to-date treatments available. Sarah fought for her son with everything she had, finding alternative treatments and symbiotic drug combinations, even putting him on a form of cannabis for a while.

She also discusses whether a child should be told that s/he is dying. She now wishes that they had had this conversation with Silas.

Finally, she talks about the reactions of friends and family. Death has become a taboo subject in today's world and people did not know how to react to the family. Some penned letters and cards, others texted, or called in, but those who upset her most were the ones who said and did nothing and behaved as if nothing had happened.

This is a brave book, written from the heart and sympathetically narrated by Antonia Beamish. To quote the author, “It’s about Silas and who he was, his personality, the things that drove us nuts, and what made him laugh and cry – all those things which I don’t want us and the boys to forget." She hopes that it will help other families who must follow a similar path, to support them and direct their questions, while helping them feel less alone.

#BAGGAGECHECK  AVAILABLE 7/12/16  GREAT STORY, GREAT READ! 4 STARS!  @mjpullen @StMartinsPress  

#REGRETSONLY  4.5 STARS  AVAILABLE 3/1/16  @MJPullen  @St.MartinsPress

4.5 Stars This was a pretty funny book for me. Suzanne Hamilton is one of the best event coordinator's in the business, until she is sabotaged. There are a lot of suspects and I went back and forth trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, there's a little love story slowly brewing.

There were so many laugh out moments in this book and of course, you are rooting for Susanne the whole way. Duh!!!

I will say for those of you who care, there is implicit sex for about 10 of the last 30 pages. Just FYI.

It was also pretty funny when Suzanne was trying to figure out why she had dated so many men and still hadn't found the right one.

I was sad when the book ended, because, yet again, I did not want to leave these characters. I found the story to be well written, the characters definitely believable and the book fun, entertaining and an enjoyable read.

Huge thanks to St. Martin's Press for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review. There's everything you could ask for in this book. Romance, mystery, kidnapping, redneck hillbillies, a celebrity and a gay assistant who is just a hoot.

So-so collection of first-person vignettes about how one man experiences his life with high-functioning autism.While I could definitely relate to some parts of the book, a lot of his experiences didn't particularly relate to me. At the end, I was thinking mostly about skimming through Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome again, because Life & Spectrum reminded me how different the male and female experiences of autism can be.