In Samantha’s Mailbox:
Title: Chronicle of the Mound Builders
Author: Elle Marie
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Archaeologist Dr. Angela Hunter discovers an ancient codex at a Mississippian Indian dig site in the St. Louis area. Knowing the Mississippians, or Mound Builders, had no written language, she is determined to solve the mystery of the 700-year-old, perfectly preserved codex.
In the early 1300’s, an Aztec family is torn apart. A judge rebelling against the Aztec tradition of human sacrifice is cursed and escapes his enemies with his 12-year-old son. They travel from the Gulf of Mexico up the Mississippi River to settle in the thriving community of Migaduha, modern-day Cahokia Mounds, Illinois.
Angela recognizes the symbols as Aztec pictograms and begins to translate the story. However, other forces also want the codex and will do anything to get it. Can she learn the secrets of the chronicle before the tragic events of the past are repeated today?
Title: Identity Break
Author: Stifyn Emrys
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: How far would you go to find yourself?
Imagine everything you thought you knew about yourself turned out to be a lie, and you didn’t know who was telling the truth. Imagine you possessed a secret so dangerous that, if it were exposed, it would reshape the entire world.
What would you do if that secret were your very identity?
In almost every way, Palo Vista seems like a typical California city, with office buildings, schools, and homes sprawled out across suburbia, filled with families making a life for themselves at the dawn of the new millennium.
But two seniors at Mt. MacMurray High are about to find out that nothing is as it seems. Jason Nix is a star athlete and honors student who can’t seem to remember anything about his childhood. Elyse Van Auten is a budding artist from a broken home whose father left her mother two years ago – or so she’s been led to believe.
Like most teens entering adulthood, Elyse and Jason just want to find out who they really are. For them, however, the stakes go far beyond their own personal quest. Join them on a journey of self-discovery that becomes a desperate fight for survival against enemies determined to conceal the truth … and find out what happens when that fight becomes personal.
Title: Cookies For Dinner
Authors: Pam Johnson-Bennett & Kae Allen
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Ever wonder about the poop capacity of the average car seat?
Mothers don’t need another “how to” book on parenting. What they need is to know they’re not the only ones who stand on the supermarket check-out line engaging total strangers in potty training horror stories.
You’ll find plenty of books, relatives and friends who are happy to tell you what you’re doing wrong as a mother. Cookies for Dinner is the antidote to all that! Pam Johnson-Bennett and Kae Allen are two mothers who reveal their imperfections and embarrassments through a series of hilarious true stories.
Pam and Kae bravely tell about how one unexpectedly learns the poop capacity of a car seat, what to wear on Chicken Pox Island and what it feels like to have your toddler lock you out of the house while you’re wearing less-than flattering swimwear.
There’s also the fact that no one tells you that when nursing, your breasts will be treated like a fast food take-out window or that a ravenous infant can create more suction than industrial-grade vacuum cleaners. And, let’s not forget the appropriate technique for removing a crow that is found sitting on the diaper pail while you’re changing your infant’s diapers (hint… don’t use your child’s butterfly net) and how a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit can cause a pregnant woman to do strange things.
What do moms need? Laughter and the comfort of knowing you’re not alone on this roller coaster ride of motherhood. Whether you’re a young mother, experienced mom, mom-to-be, empty-nester, grandparent or still on the fence about becoming a mother, everyone relates to Cookies for Dinner It’s the perfect gift for anyone who will be, is now, has been or NEVER wants to be called… MOM!
Title: Girl Three
Author: Tracy March
Received: From Entangled Publishing
Synopsis: Bioethicist Jessica Croft, estranged daughter of a federal judge, has avoided the players, power, and passions of Washington, DC. But when her sister’s suspicious death is classified as natural, Jessie resolves to expose the murderer. Pursuing elite suspects on both sides of the stem-cell-research debate leads her to security consultant Michael Gillette, who knows more about her sister than he’ll admit.
Michael has a vested interest in Jessie’s plight. Her sister died on his watch—while he wasn’t watching. His plan to find her murderer becomes complicated when Jessie’s father hires him to protect Jessie, and his interest turns from professional…to romantic.
Jessie and Michael must unravel a mystery rife with political agendas and deceit. When confidential papers reveal a fertility scandal surrounding the enigmatic Girl Three, the two realize the danger of exposing the truth. Who is Girl Three? And will the murderer kill again to keep a secret?
Title: What Happiness Looks Like
Author: Karen Lenfestey
Received: From Karen Lenfestey
Synopsis: Joely Shupe had a vision of what her thirties would look like: she’d be the mother of two, finger painting with her kids during the day and cooking dinner for her loving husband at night. Instead she’s a single mother struggling to provide for her only child.
To make matters worse, her ex-fiancé, Jake, shows up–unemployed and reeling from a personal tragedy. He claims he’s ready to parent the daughter he abandoned five years ago. Joely is more interested in Dalton, a devoted father to his own son, who offers to take care of her the way no man ever has. Should Joely risk her daughter bonding with someone new or with the man who broke her heart?
Meanwhile, Joely’s sister, Kate, has the husband and the home, but no baby. After several failed attempts at fertility treatments, Kate’s husband is ready to give up. Kate believes his solution to their problems will tear them apart.
For Joely and Kate, one thing is for sure: this is not the life they expected. Is it time to adjust their idea of what happiness looks like?
Title: The Death of Bees
Author: Lisa O’Donnell
Received: From RandomHouse UK
Synopsis: A riveting, brilliantly written debut novel, The Death of Bees is a coming-of-age story in which two young sisters attempt to hold the world at bay after the mysterious death of their parents.
Marnie and Nelly, left on their own in Glasgow’s Hazlehurst housing estate, attempt to avoid suspicion until Marnie can become a legal guardian for her younger sister.
Written with fierce sympathy and beautiful precision, and told in alternating voices, The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell is an enchanting, grimly comic tale of lost souls who, unable to answer for themselves, can answer only for each other.
In Sara’s Mailbox:
Title: Next Stop
Author: Glen Finland
Received: Jessica @ Penguin Group
Synopsis: Next Stop is the universal story of how children grow up and parents learn to let go—no matter how difficult it may be for both of them.
Title: Saved By Cake
Author: Marian Keyes
Received: Unsolicited
Synopsis: Beloved novelist Marian Keyes tackles the kitchen with a new cookbook featuring desserts that are both simple and delicious, with step-by-step instructions and stunning photography.
“To be perfectly blunt about it, my choice sometimes is: I can kill myself, or I can make a dozen cupcakes. Right so, I’ll do the cupcakes and I can kill myself tomorrow.”
In Saved by Cake, Marian Keyes gives a candid account of her recent battle with depression and her discovery that learning to bake was exactly what she needed to regain her joie de vivre. A complete novice in the kitchen, Marian decided to bake a cake for a friend. From the moment she began measuring, she realized that baking was the best way for her to get through each day.
Refreshingly honest and wickedly funny, Saved by Cake shines with Keyes’ inimitable charm and is chockfull of sound advice. Written in Marian’s signature style, her take on baking is honest, witty, extremely accessible and full of fun. Her simple and delicious recipes—from Consistently Reliable Cupcakes to Fridge-set Honeycomb Cheesecake—are guaranteed to tempt even the most jaded palate.
Title: The Death of Bees
Author: Lisa O’Donnell
Received: Arwen From RandomHouse UK
Synopsis: A riveting, brilliantly written debut novel, The Death of Bees is a coming-of-age story in which two young sisters attempt to hold the world at bay after the mysterious death of their parents.
Marnie and Nelly, left on their own in Glasgow’s Hazlehurst housing estate, attempt to avoid suspicion until Marnie can become a legal guardian for her younger sister.
Written with fierce sympathy and beautiful precision, and told in alternating voices, The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell is an enchanting, grimly comic tale of lost souls who, unable to answer for themselves, can answer only for each other.
