By: Beth Harbison
ISBN: 9781250043825
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 7/26/2016
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 4 Stars Meet Prinny, Chelsea and Diana. Prinny is the owner of Cosmos, a shop that sells crystals, potions, candles, and hope. It’s also a place where no one turns down a little extra-special cocktail that can work as a romance potion or heal a broken heart. But Prinny is in love with her married lawyer and she’ll need nothing short of magic to forget about him. Chelsea works as a living statue at tourist sites around Washington, DC. It's a thankless job, but it helps pay the rent. That, and her part-time job at Cosmos. As her dream of becoming a successful actress starts to seem more remote and the possibility of being a permanently struggling one seems more realistic, Chelsea begins to wonder: at one point do you give up on your dreams? And will love ever be in the cards for her? Diana Tiesman is married to Leif, a charismatic man who isn’t faithful. But no matter how many times he lets her down, Diana just can't let him go. She knows the only way she can truly breakaway is if she leaves and goes where he will never think to follow. So she ends up at Cosmos with Leif’s stepsister, where she makes her homemade teas and tinctures as she figures out whether she'd rather be lonely alone than lonely in love. In Beth Harbison's One Less Problem Without You, three women suddenly find themselves together at their own very different crossroads. It will take hope, love, strength and a little bit of magic for them to find their way together.
My Review
A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Beth Harbison returns following If I Could Turn Back Time (2015) with ONE LESS PROBLEM WITHOUT YOU — three women whose lives are at a crossroads, connected by one man, an evil monster.
A contemporary domestic suspense with a little grit, danger, some magic, courage, new friendships, and some special cosmos! Hat’s off to St. Martin’s Press and Harbison for another chic and stunning cover! -the best. Three women who would rather "be lonely alone, than lonely in love."
Diana Tiesman is married to Leif, a man with two personalities. He is abusive, handsome, young, rich, charming, selfish, sadistic and unfaithful to his wife. A wife who knows she is in an unhealthy relationship, and cannot seem to break free of this man. Addiction.
For seven years she has tried to the perfect wife. From sex, home, cooking, however, he is unfaithful and now she finds herself sneaking in the bathroom to check his phone and the sluts he is texting. He was like a bad addiction. She needed an elixir. The perfect nightcap. She has no money to leave and thinks of Prinny. She has nowhere to go. Her parents were gone and she was estranged from her sister
What about killing her husband? (Sleeping With the Enemy). Being with him was killing her. She would rather die than go through this anymore. She had two options.
She turns to her sister-in-law, Prinny. Ending up a Cosmos, a cute shop in Washington, DC that sells crystals, potions, candles and lots of hope. Also some special teas, herbs, and extra special yummy cocktails.
The owner Prinny— is in love with her married lawyer, Alex and wants to forget him. She had to settle for her time with him being business related. She needed financial independence. She is also the step-sister of wicked older step-brother, Leif. She knows all too well her brother’s abusive behavior.
Leif was powerful. He was doing everything he could to sabotage her inheritance, and her life. This is why she opened Cosmos. She needed to have a legitimate business, expenses, a storefront so her Leif couldn’t accuse her of being incompetent.
Chelsea works part-time at Cosmos, with a desire to be an actress. However, she wonders if her dreams will ever be a reality as far as her career or love. Even though she could read cards and she could definitely read people. She was no psychic, but she was extremely good at reading voices, gestures, and choices.
“When one’s love life is unsatisfying, some acquires things to make up for it. Sometimes the things are lovers, sometimes the things are children, but most of the time things are things.”
Alternating from past (7-25 yrs, ago) to the present we hear about Lief Tiesman (with Diane and with Pinny). With a plan of revenge, some spicy sweet kava, wine, potent herbs, cocktails, magic, a booming new business, girl power, and three determined quirky women you will root for.
A perfect beach read, Beth combines her wit and a little grit and mystery crossing over to the dark side (hope to see more of this). Harbison would be a great domestic suspense, chick-grip-noir writer), which is so popular today. For fans of Paul Treick Deboard, Susan Crawford, and Paula Daly.
Gals, you will love the Cosmo chic cover, three gals whose lives connect, a bad guy, and "Diana’s Drinks" with 30-yummy cocktail recipes included at the end of the book. Need I say more?
Review Links:
Available in Paperback
June 14, 2016
Told with Beth Harbison's wit and warmth, If I Could Turn Back Time is the fantasy of every woman who has ever thought, "If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, I'd do things so differently..."
About the Author
Beth Harbison grew up in Potomac, Maryland, in the shadow of Washington, D.C. Apart from the occasional irritation at being held up in traffic by a presidential motorcade, she has remained fairly uninvolved in the politics that define her home town.
Her latest novel, ONE LESS PROBLEM WITHOUT YOU, comes out July 26, 2016. Read More
