Amy T. Matthews

The ebook does something really cool: it provides a text description of the map of Buck's Creek and Bitterroot at the beginning, for those using screenreaders (or, I guess, really tiny screens so they can't see the labels easily).
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I loved the book so much!

Beau is a romantic pretty-boy, but without much experience with women. He puts out his own Matrimonial News ad, and the first one to respond is perfect: also a romantic and stunningly beautiful, too. So he proposes marriage.

But when Diana show more arrives in Bitterroot with her best friend (and ghostwriter!) Ellie, she finds Beau's little sister Junebug has invited 5 mail-order brides for Beau to choose from. Six, actually - Ellie had answered the same ad. None of them knew they were there the the same man, and Ellie is shocked that her Mr McBride is also Diana's.

Ellie is nothing but loyal and decides not to be a candidate for courtship. She will do everything she can to further Beau and Diana's romance, which means spending a lot more time with Beau to teach him how to interact with women. But she will not marry him!

I loved Ellie a lot. She's learned all she knows from books (including dime novels!) and is prone to absolutely wild, melodramatic and romantic imaginings. She's also one of the first people to have a firm dislike of Junebug, and to mostly disapprove of everything about Junebug. She is really fun to read about!

The flights of imagination and "you need to be better at being with Diana" lessons lead to some ridiculous, romance-novel-cliché situations, like being alone in a cabin during a terrible thunderstorm, soaked to the bone and freezing, or practicing "polite" kissing. There are two very intense scenes with kissing, and a third moderately explicit sex scene.

If anything was less than fun for me with Seven Brides for Beau McBride, it's the historical romance trope where the heroine doesn't wear proper underthings (petticoat, corset) unless it makes for a more dramatic scene. This book takes place in November in 1887, so i can't imagine why Ellie wouldn't be wearing at least one petticoat! And to be without a corset, or later to wear her hair loose, is shocking. But it's such a huge cliché, in a series that enjoys clichés, that I can't fault it too much. It just threw me out of the story.

Anyway, yes, I love this book and had so much fun reading it! You could probably pick it up without reading the previous two, though you'll maybe have missed out on why Junebug is so appealing. show less

Jodie is devastated when her sister Bree dies of leukemia. Saddled with an enormous amount of Bree’s medical debt, Jodie doesn’t know how to move forward with her life. An unexpected Instagram post appears on Bree’s account challenging Jodie to publicly complete Bree’s bucket list. If she does and keeps Bree’s followers, the debt will be paid off by a corporate sponsor. Will introverted Jodie follow in her influencer sister’s footsteps and pull the list off?

I went into SOMEONE show more ELSE’S BUCKET LIST completely blind. I had a vague idea what it was about based on the title but wouldn’t have guessed any of the premise’s details. In this case, I wish I had read the synopsis first as I probably would have passed on reading this book at the particular time that I did. I was in the midst of receiving my own devastating news of a cancer diagnosis for one of my dogs and found myself quickly running through our own bucket list of last things to do in the very short time that we had left.

This book really shows how disgusting capitalism is with how a corporation will take advantage of a financially-strained grieving family and manipulate them for corporate gains under the guise of “charity.” It took almost ¾ of the book before this was somewhat addressed. The writing wasn’t bad but overall, there wasn’t anything that I particularly enjoyed about the story. Where I think it was meant to be heartwarming, I felt altogether frustrated and didn’t particularly care about any of the characters.

SOMEONE ELSE’S BUCKET LIST didn’t work for me but I can see how it may be enjoyed by others. show less

“My dying wish is for you to finish my bucket list. I refuse to die without knowing this list will be completed. And I refuse to die without knowing my family will be okay…”

Someone Else’s Bucket List by Amy T. Matthews is an unexpectedly delightful read given that it’s a story that revolves around grief and loss.

An extrovert who parlayed her love of adventure into a successful career as an influencer with millions of followers, Bree Boyd was the life of every party, and her younger show more sister Jodie feels her loss every day. At the Boyd’s first Thanksgiving dinner without Bree, they are stunned when her best friend, Claudia, shares an Instagram reel recorded before Bree’s death. In it Bree challenges Jodie to complete the last seven items on Bree’s unfinished bucket list, with the help of a corporate sponsor, and in doing so free their family from the crippling medical debt accrued during Bree’s treatment for Leukaemia.

Jodie’s first instinct is to refuse Bree’s request, unlike her sister, Jodie is shy and introverted, however the opportunity to clear the family’s debt, and her desire to honour her sister’s last wishes, means she can’t say no. The bucket list tasks are reasonably benign, for example - 17. Plant a tree…, 74. Perform a walk-on cameo in a Broadway musical…, 99. Fly over Antarctica…, but they take their toll on Jodie. Jodie inspires sympathy, and I really liked the thoughtful development of her character. While she slowly grows in self-confidence, becoming less critical of herself and requiring more of others, Jodie’s increased sense of self-worth is fragile, often resulting in a ‘two steps forward, one step back’ situation. This is particularly evident in Jodie’s romantic relationship with Kelly Wong.

Grief is the main theme of the book. Matthews writes with compassion for the complicated process of dealing with loss, and how that journey is different for everyone. But this is also a story about hope, courage and love, and there is a sincerity to the emotion in this story that I found wholly believable. The author also makes some subtle commentary about the positives and pitfalls of social media, the ethics of corporate sponsorship, and the disgrace that is the user-pays American healthcare system.

Thoughtful, entertaining and poignant, Someone Else’s Bucket List really tugged at my heartstrings, I laughed, and teared up, I mourned and I celebrated. show less

When Bree, a 26 year-old social media influencer, gets sick, her family rallies around her, along with her BFF, Claudia. The following year, Claudia and Jodie, Bree’s younger sister are preparing Thanksgiving dinner to Bree’s specifications. Jodie doesn’t understand why Bree asked Claudia to do so much and not her. But then, they get a video of Bree advising that her sponsor will pay all the medical bills if Josie fulfills the last 6 items on Bree’s bucket list.
Jodie is hesitant, but show more the bucket list brings her close to her sister and also enables her to manage her grief. This is a sweet story of the power of love even beyond death, and of following your heart, taking chances, and growing, even if you are uncomfortable. Team Jodie all the way! show less