REVIEW: A Brighter Flame by Christine Nolfi was an outstanding book! I felt like I have just read a book that I’ve never read before. It doesn’t have hints of another story line that I’ve read nor are the characters anything I expected. It also deals with a few subjects many of us have dealt with in our lives. Let me explain what I am talking about and give you an idea why this book is a little unique.

The storyline feels like it is about a girl who just can’t get a break and has a tough time making the right decisions in her life. She constantly gets knocked down but, she jumps right up and gets on with life. Whatever that is going to be. As the story unfolds we get to know Vale, her dad, mom, stepdad, sister and her grandmother and a few others. We meet Emmett. I really like Emmett. He is the neighborhood pharmacist and seems to be what Vale needs. There is so much more going on in this book. There is infidelity, past and possibly present, there is female issues (I can’t tell you which one or ones). In reality, there is so much going on in this book and so much reflection on the past. I couldn’t put it down. This book held me spellbound. 

I’ve given you and idea of the characters in this book and I am struggling to not tell you too much! I want to tell you everything! For every sentence I’ve written in this review, I’ve deleted two. SECRETS! There are a lot of secrets carried around by these characters who are very unique. Maybe they are unique because we learn more than one side to a lot of them. Some of them when pushed into a corner tell the whole story whether you want to hear it or not and probably for the first time. Some of the problems we think are being dealt with are not the problem at all and turn out to be something completely different. I know I’m kind of blind sometimes and read stories as black and white so, some things come as a surprise to me. Then I go back and remember there were clues all along. 

If you love good family drama, a great story and one that feels fresh, then you need to give A Brighter Flame a try. This is the first book by Christine Nolfi that I have read. I loved it and it won’t be my last. She has several books out for those who like to binge on the previously released books. I’m looking forward to her next book and the next!

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SYNOPSIS: She’s always wanted a sense of belonging. The last place she expects to find it is home.

Vale Lightner’s dreams turn to ash when the Pittsburgh bar she owns goes up in flames. Just like the past she escaped, very little seems salvageable. Facing unavoidable change, Vale returns to her hometown of Philadelphia to stay with her grandmother.

She knows that returning also means facing everything she left behind: a mother and stepfather who shunted her into the background from the day they married, and her charmed and favored half sister, Blythe, who has abandoned a perfect marriage and is now at a crossroads of her own. Everyone has their secrets, and this reunited family racked by them is about to reach a crisis point.

For a mother and her two daughters, this reunion is a chance for closure, newfound love, and forgiveness. As each of them reassesses her own memories of the past, only the truth can bring them together—in ways that could last forever. From the bestselling author of The Passing Storm comes a poignant novel about family secrets, healing, and the hope of second chances.