Book Review: Watching Glass Shatter by @jamescudney4

Published on by Joan Hall

Hey, everyone. I purposed to read more books this year and shrink my TBR list. Ha! For every book I read, at least two replace it. But that’s another story.

I’ve had James J Cudney’s, “Watching Glass Shatter” on my Kindle for a while. When I read Jay’s guest post on Mae Clair’s site a couple of weeks ago, I moved this one to the top of my list. I’m glad I did.

Blurb:

After 40 years of marriage, Olivia’s husband unexpectedly passes away. But when Ben’s will reveals a life-altering secret, she suffers a blow no widow should ever experience.

Olivia learns that she gave birth to a baby who later died in the nursery. Instead of telling his wife what happened, Ben switched the child with another. And as if that’s not enough, Ben’s will doesn’t reveal which of their five sons is truly not hers.

Olivia visits each of her sons to share a final connection before facing the truth that will change their family and discovers that each of them has been harboring a painful secret, just like their father. But will the secrets destroy their family, or bring them closer together?

My Review:

Olivia Glass lives what some people would call the perfect life. She’s married to a successful attorney with five grown sons, is the chair for several charitable organizations, and lives in an upscale neighborhood in Connecticut.

But Olivia’s world comes tumbling down when her husband, Ben, dies in a car accident. At the reading of his will, the attorney gives Olivia two handwritten letters from Ben. It shocks her to learn he kept a secret involving one of their sons. Trouble is, she doesn’t know which one.

Before she reveals the contents of the letters to her family, she visits each son in their homes. And she soon learns each one has secrets of his own—all with the potential to destroy the family.

Often when reading a book, I have a favorite character. It was hard to pick just one in this story, as they are all well-developed with both good qualities and flaws. The book will stir your emotions—there is laughter, anger, sorrow—all combined into a compelling plot.

If you like drama and stories about family dynamics, I recommend this book.

Five stars!

James recently released the second book of the series, “Hiding Cracked Glass.” It’s already on my Kindle, and I look forward to reading it.

45 thoughts on “Book Review: Watching Glass Shatter by @jamescudney4”

  1. This sounds excellent, Joan. I love family drama, and I’ve had it on my Kindle for a while. I need to bump it up. (Trouble is, I never want to bump anything DOWN. Doh!) Great review, and I do hope to read it SOON! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. This is an excellent review of Jay’s book, Joan. I really enjoyed the family dynamics and all the secrets in Watching Glass Shatter. Like you, I’m looking forward to reading Hiding Cracked Glass. I just have to find a way to beat my three-headed hydra of a TBR into submission!
    And please send some of that “time in a bottle” my way 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  9. Joan,

    Thank you very much for this generous review and downloading the next book. I appreciate it. I’m so glad you liked many of the characters; it means I did something good for enough of them to make it tough! 🙂

    Hope the TBR gets a little easier by the end of this year. Have a wonderful week!

    j

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I love character driven fiction. Doesn’t matter how good a plot is, if I can relate to the characters, a book doesn’t resonate with me. You did a great job with both.

      Thanks so much for stopping by today!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  10. Yay for a five-star read! It sounds like an emotional story. I know what you mean about TBR lists. I’ve been trying to read two books from my TBR before adding another, but it doesn’t always work out that way!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. Exactly! I keep two TBRs now. One for things I MUST read to help me remember when new books come out in a series or by an author I always read… then a TBR for all the authors I’ve met and ones I think I might want to read… and I choose from both each month now.

      Thanks for the kind words!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. I’m taking a few days off from reading, but I plan to read the second book soon. And yes, I need a time machine or stopper. Maybe I could save some in a bottle. (Okay, pardon the song reference.) 😉

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

Let's chat! I enjoy hearing from you.

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.