Sadly I DNF this book. I really struggled to get into it and decided that it probably just wasn't for me at this moment in time. I loved the premise so I will likely return to it at a later date when I feel I will be more invested.

Thank you Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for the e-ARC.

This is such a good novel! Often times, novels from Christian publishers come across as cheesy - but this one does not at all. The plot is interesting and the characters' stories interweave together in a great way. Recommend for a great summer read!

Rachel Hauck is a favorite author of mine and I can always depend on her for a great read. This one was not exception and I am so mad at myself that it stayed on my TBR list for way too long. I guess I have been able to catch up a little with all this quarantine stuff going on.

The chance for five New York strangers to join the Fifth Avenue Story Society and rewrite their own stories. This is an idea that all of us would jump at I am sure. I know we all make mistakes that we wish we could go back and do over and that is what this is for these five.

Lexa is an executive assistant that is eager for a much deserved promotion but is just not sure how to bring the idea to her boss. He is determined to keep her underemployed so that she will be there at his beck and call. Jett is a literary professor that is dealing with the idea that his favorite author is a fake as well as a broken heart. Chuck is an Uber driver that just wants a second chance to be a dad to his kids. He sneaks to the house where their mom is living and watches them as they go through their nightly routine with their mom and Chuck longs to be a part of their lives again. Ed is a widower that is just eager to tell about his wonderful marriage and show everyone how great it really was. Coral is know in the cosmetic industry as the queen, but she is in jeopardy of loosing her grandmothers multi-million dollar industry if she doesn't get herself together. Coral has broken off her engagement as well.

When these five receive an anonymous invitation to attend a meeting of The Fifth Avenue Story Society, they definitely think they are the victims of a practical joke. When they all get to the same place and no one knows who has invited them there, they all wonder what is going on.

With curiosity killing them, they all attend the meetings week after week. There is some hesitation at first to bear their weaknesses and faults to a room full of strangers, but them quickly realize that this group can offer exactly what they have all been missing. I enjoyed being able to follow along with these five to see how they were going to wright their wrongs and rewrite their stories. This was a great read! I can't wait for more from Rachel Hauck in the near future, but I can definitely say that this has become one of my favorites of hers!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a copy of this book.

Such a delightful read! A tribute to the importance of finding friendship and community, even when it's hard.

Five seemingly unrelated people are chosen, by anonymous invitation, to participate in a story society. To meet weekly in the old mansion of a prominent family, the five wonder why they are gathered and what they are to accomplish. As with any group of five, there is built-in drama. We have a divorced couple, a lonely widower, a disgruntled divorced rough-around-the edges 30-spmething guy, and a female CEO who is floundering as running her grandmother’s cosmetics company.
To learn about the five, their back stories are unveiled. Are they in a position to help one another? Possibly. Could we help a group of folks if we just took the time to learn their stories? Probably.

I did really like this - However, it felt kind of short and the story pacing felt off. I feel like it wrapped up kind of quickly! The concept is that five (sort of) strangers get invitations to The Fifth Avenue Story Society, and they start meeting weekly to discuss their lives. No one in the group knows how or why they received an invitation, but all five are struggling in their lives. It’s not as Christian-centered as some of Rachel Hauck’s other books, but one of the main characters is a Christian and that plays a part in the second half of the book. (I listened to this, but I did get a copy from @NetGalley earlier this year.)

I really enjoyed this book. The premise first attracted my attention and the book did not disappoint. We learned the back story of each character as they were introduced and got their invitation to the mysterious Fifth Avenue Society. The book progressed as they attended Society meetings and opened up to one another, and I was hooked. This was a great read and I highly recommend it. 4 stars.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson--Fiction and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Due to content I have found in Hauck's other books I will not be reading this one, sadly, as I love the cover and like the plotline from what I see in the blurb.

I enjoyed this title so much! I thought the plot was so intriguing, and the characterization very strong! The description used by the author was so evocative I felt transported, and I kept turning until the very last page. I think the cover is very cute - I'll be sure to purchase this for my store!

Rachel Hauck is a wonderful storyteller. From the first page I was interested in the characters being developed. The book was perfectly paced and each character was developed in the right amount of pages.

The Fifth Avenue Story Society by Rachel Hauck is about five NY strangers who receive an invitation to join a society and a chance to rewrite their own stories.
This was a good book. I enjoyed the characters. 5 people gather together weekly and become friends. They tell each other their life story, especially their problems, and how, with each other’s help, they get them solved. An interesting read!

Executive assistant Lexa is eager for a much-deserved promotion, but her boss is determined to keep her underemployed.

Literature professor Jett is dealing with a broken heart, as well as a nagging suspicion his literary idol, Gordon Phipps Roth, might be a fraud.

Uber driver Chuck just wants a second chance with his kids.

Aging widower Ed is eager to write the true story of his incredible marriage.

Coral, queen of the cosmetics industry, has broken her engagement and is on the verge of losing her great grandmother’s multimillion-dollar empire.

When all five New Yorkers receive an anonymous, mysterious invitation to the Fifth Avenue Story Society, they suspect they’re victims of a practical joke. No one knows who sent the invitations or why. No one has heard of the literary society. And no one is prepared to reveal their deepest secrets to a roomful of strangers.

Yet curiosity and loneliness bring them back week after week to the old library. And it’s there they discover the stories of their hearts, and the kind of friendship and love that heals their souls.

Let me start by saying that Rachel Hauck is one of my favorite Christian authors. I have read all her books. So when I received a free copy of The Fifth Avenue Story Society, I was excited.

Unfortunately, I didn't really like the book. I could barely get through it and only read it because I had to write a review. Other reviews have raved about how good it is, but I just didn't feel the same.

I hope Rachel Hauck's next book is better.

I love the various characters and the joys and challenges they go through, once again the author really draws you in and engages the reader., Highly recommend

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

Five people are given invitations by an unknown host for a story society meeting. None of them know why or by whom, but their curiosity gets the better of them and they all show. first to show are Jett, a professor of literature; Chuck, an Uber/limo driver; Ed, a lonely widower; Coral, the heiress to a cosmetic corporation and then Lexa, an executive assistant and Jett’s ex-wife. Although they cannot figure out why they are there or who mysteriously invited them, they all agree to keep meeting and try to figure it out.

A lovely story about five people from different walks of life with different experiences that form friendships that are touching and heartfelt. They each add so much to one another’s lives and as they get closer they share their deepest secrets and feelings. I really enjoyed following their tale and felt personally invested in their stories.

When five virtual strangers receive an inviation from an anonymous source to attend the Fifth Avenue Story Society, meeting weekly in an historic reading room of an old library, they tenatively decide that random friendships might be just what they need to caulk together the broken pieces of their lives. Except that two of them used to know each other intimately well, and the other three have experienced the kind of deep wounds that love and regret can potentially cause, even if they won't admit it.

It's quite an interesting story, a bit "carnal" in a couple of places, nontheless; readers will experience all the ups and downs of the characters' incredible journey towards wholeness.

If Rachel Hauck wrote it, then I want to read it, that was my premise for choosing this book. This book deviated a bit from the last few books in that it didn't flash back in time, it just flipped around between present-day characters. It was well-written and I liked being able to see behind the scenes in more than one character's life.

It's hard to describe the premise of this book without giving spoilers, because it feels like it's all a spoiler. Five unlikely, disjointed, mostly unconnected people are invited to a story society. They show up and try to figure out the why behind the invitation. Only two people know each other because they used to be married and two had spent the night in jail together. While this is a spoiler, it also is pretty easy to figure out within the first few pages of the book. Those two people ended up being my favorites in the story, along with the old man.

I loved watching these five unlikely characters becoming friends and learning from each other about life, honesty, courage, truth, and love. Each had a part to play, a piece to contribute and it was fun to watch their friendships develop. And then there was the mysterious Gilda, of whom I will say nothing more, but let you read the book to find out.

While this is classified as Christian fiction, there wasn't a lot of God in the book. The one character, towards the end, begins to talk about her relationship with God and invite them to church and some of them follow her, but that is about it. So if you are looking for a book that emphasizes Christian values, this isn't it, at least not through the majority of the book.

Another thing I liked about this book is that it brought in a character from one of her other books and I liked that connection. It made me dig out that book and try to remember what had happened in it.

This wasn't my favorite Rachel Hauck book, but I did enjoy it. I really liked the part of love renewed, but was not such a fan of the divorce and remarriage aspect portrayed in it.

I received this book from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a hard book to review not because it was bad, rather it was really good, but some of the elements that I really loved about it are kind of spoilery, but I am going to try my best!

The Fifth Avenue Story Society was a poignant read and covered a couple of hard topics, but it did so in a great way. The best way to summarize this book is that even though the truth is hard to admit and share it will set you free. Several of the main characters are struggling to come to terms with the truth of certain events in their past and over the course of the novel they are forced to work through it.

I really enjoyed the premise of how each of the five characters received an invitation to be a part of the story society, however none of the characters really had much in common with each other, except for Jett and Lexa who had previously been married. I loved seeing the different relationships that were developed over the course of the novel. Another thing I really liked about this book is how each of the characters is struggling with their own inner demons, or even with the dreams of what they wish their lives had been.

One last thing I would like to say is that I really liked the whole idea of a society that seems to have no point, but rather the point is to face certain truths and how to move on from that point. In some ways I think it shows how God works in mysterious ways.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Fifth Avenue Story Society, in fact I think it will make my list of top 10 books of 2020, but who knows. I’m looking forward to reading more of Rachel Hauck’s works in the future. 4/5 Stars.

What I think you should know:
The Fifth Avenue Story Society is Contemporary Fiction by Rachel Hauck. When five people find mysterious invitations to The Fifth Avenue Story Society they are curious and confused.

What I think about this book:
To be honest I like the characters felt a little confused at the beginning of the story, however I found my way along with them. Hauck has a gift for creating characters that are familiar, in spite of their uniqueness they feel like they feel like they could be you or one of your friends. Jett was trapped in regrets of the past, Coral wants to live up to expectations, Lexa feels trapped, Chuck can’t move past the worst mistake of his life and Ed lives in a world not his own. Each of the five members had a unique perspective that tied them together to create an inspirational story that kept me guessing. If you have never read Hauck this would be a great introduction to her work.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Celebrate Lit, this in no way influenced my review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It's slow going but well worth the time. Five seemingly unrelated individuals are mysteriously invited to The Fifth Avenue Story Society. They comes from all walks of life, each carrying scars from their pasts and secrets they would rather keep hidden. Each Monday night they meet at the library, at first to figure out why they were invited, but over time true friendships are born and old relationships are mended. It reminded me of the friendships that were formed in some of my favorite TV shows like Wings, Cheers, and Friends. I invite you to take a chance and read The Fifth Avenue Story Society. If you've read any of Rachel's previous books you will recognize some "old friends" from previous novels. An enjoyable story.

I enjoyed this story. If you didn't know that Rachel Hauck wrote Christian fiction you wouldn't know this is from that genre. 5 strangers who live in New York city are invited to the Fifth Avenue Story Society. When they meet for the first time they think they are the butt of a practical joke. As they try to find a common thread in their lives they soon become friends. The 5 are all great characters and each of their stories is well done. No one gets short changed. As they work together to help each other solve a problem in their life romance blooms. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.