In Samantha’s Mailbox:
Title: Love in Translation
Author: Sara Palacios
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Still reeling from an unexpected breakup, Emily nurses her broken heart by spending time with her best friends and taking one-too-many vodka shots. After one long night, she takes a hard look inside herself and doesn’t like what she sees. She realizes that she has sacrificed too much in her failed relationships from the past and vows to never settle for anything less than almost-perfect again. As she picks up the pieces and regains her confidence, a sexy Spanish chef moves in across the hall and knocks her off her feet. What ensues is an unexpected and tantalizing affair that opens her eyes – and her heart – to a whole new world and leaves her feeling sexier than she has ever felt. Emily finally sees how easy love is supposed to be. Is happily-ever-after actually possible? Just when she starts to think so, she realizes that sometimes life gets more complicated before it gets easier. And complicated is an understatement when Steven (her best and oldest friend in the world) confesses his love for her. Everything spirals out of control as Emily must make a choice between love and friendship, and in doing so, possibly risk it all.
LOVE IN TRANSLATION is a modern day love story about following your heart to unexpected places and taking chances in life … because sometimes you will find exactly what you are looking for.
Title: Swan Story
Author: Priya Narendran
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Soon to be married Daniel Macgregor meets mysterious beauty Sarah Mitchell on the day his father gives him a ballet company as a present. Although at first reluctant to take responsibility, he changes his mind when he realizes Sarah dances for the same company. Over the course of the production of “Swan Lake” they fall head over heels in love. Unknown to Daniel, Sarah is cursed to turn into a swan from sunset to sunrise and only true love will break the spell. So it makes Sarah wonder, what will happen when he finds out what she is.
Title: Eighty-Eight Keys
Author: Catherine Lavender
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Leah is a young woman who is trying to break free from a strict religious background and pursue her dream as a pianist in the world of show business. While trying to find her independence her heart is held captive by Jason Rowe a local basketball star who established an organization to help troubled youth. When Jason is found murdered in his home, Leah is determined to get answers from a closed investigation. During her state of emotional turmoil, Leah finds comfort not only in the melody of her music, but in the arms of a married man named Calvin. With her dreams at her fingertips, Leah is tangled in a web of lies and deceit. Despite the fear of learning the truth, Leah has to realize that only the truth can set her free.
A dead lover, with a trail of broken hearts…
A married man, with a double-life…
A dream chaser, with a killer at her heels…
A piano, with eighty-eight keys…
Title: A French Affair
Author: Katie Fforde
Received: Randomhouse
Synopsis: Gina and Sally Makepiece have inherited a stall in the French House – an antiques centre nestled in the heart of the English countryside.
Gina is determined to drag the French House and its grumpy owner into the twenty-first century. Bearing all the attributes of a modern-day Mr Rochester, Matthew Ballinger is less than happy with the whirlwind that has arrived on his doorstep.
The last thing either of them want is to fall in love.
But will a trip to France change their minds?
Title: Essex Girls
Author: Laura Ziepe
Received: Avon
Synopsis: You can take the girl out of Essex …
You’ll be well jel over the adventures of three good-hearted, strong-willed, fake-baked Essex Girls. Fun, fresh and always ream, this novel Perfect for fans of TOWIE and the novels of Katie Price.
Jade did everything she could to fit in at university – toned down her tan, gave up on her favourite fake lashes, swapped designer dresses for jeans. And it seemed to make her boyfriend Tom happy. But obviously not quite happy enough.
When Jade finds Tom’s been cheating she heads home: to Essex. Reunited with her best mates Kelly and Lisa, even a night out at The Sugar Hut isn’t enough to put a smile back on her face. So they hatch a plan to get away from it all, to a place so ream it’s unreal – Marbella. Sun, sea, men, vajazzles: what could possibly go wrong?
In Sara’s Mailbox:
Title: The One-Way Bridge
Author: Cathie Pelletier
Received: Source Books
Synopsis: Cathie Pelletier draws readers back to the beloved town of Mattagash, a seemingly quiet New England outpost in Maine. Yet Mattagash is anything but tranquil. While its citizens bicker publicly over small-town theft or their neighbors’ offensive mailboxes, they privately struggle through deeper life issues: scandal, loss, failed ambitions, and the scars of war.
Reaching across the vastness of America and into the jungles of Vietnam, The One-Way Bridge is an unforgettable portrait of loneliness, family, and community—and the kinds of changes we make for love.
Title: A White Wind Blew
Author: James Markert
Received: Source Books
Synopsis: When the body fails, you’ve got two choices. Send a doctor in, or send a prayer up. And if neither works?
You’ll find Dr. Wolfgang Pike at his piano.
Music has always been Wolfgang’s refuge. It’s betraying him now, as he struggles to compose a requiem for his late wife, but surely the right ending will come to him. Certainly it’ll come more quickly than a cure for his patients up at Waverly Hills, the tuberculosis hospital, where nearly a body an hour leaves in a coffin. Wolfgang can’t seem to save anyone these days, least of all himself.
Sometimes we just need to know we’re not the only ones in the fight. A former concert pianist checks in, triggering something deep inside Wolfgang, and spreading from patient to patient. Soon Wolfgang finds himself in the center of an orchestra that won’t give up, with music that won’t stop. A White Wind Blew delivers a sweeping crescendo of hope in a time of despair, raising compelling questions about faith and confession, music and medicine,and the undying force of love.
