Blog Tour Sign Up: Front Page Fatality by LynDee Walker
LynDee will be on tour in July with her mystery novel Front Page Fatality. I am looking for book bloggers to post excerpts for this…
On Tour: Aggravated Circumstances by Michele Shriver
Michele will be on tour June 17-June 24 with her novel Aggravated Circumstances A family can be torn apart in an instant. Putting it back…
Book Review: Fire Country by David Estes
Summary:
In a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer’s even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely.
Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter. It is their duty as Bearers.
Fifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with.
As the desert sands run out on her life’s hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun.
Review:
I really enjoyed this novel. It is the first David Estes’s novel that I have ever read, and I’m certainly glad that I started with it.
Siena’s character was very inspiring. She has the same insecurity in her appearance and abilities that most of us felt (and still feel!) as teenagers despite the futuristic wasteland setting. Her scrawny gawkiness makes her relatable while her fierce strength in the face of an abusive father makes her endearing. The love relationship with her best friend, Circ, is sweet and touching although I was a little frustrated that she couldn’t see how much he cared until it was nearly too late.
The novel might be a little long for young adult readers who aren’t already addicted to sci-fi, but the story is so engaging and action-packed, the pages fly by!
Five stars
CLP Blog Tours Excerpt: Geoducks Are for Lovers by Daisy …
Daisy Prescott is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Geoducks Are for Lovers. Please enjoy this excerpt from the book! After getting Quinn…
In My Mailbox: Week of June 9
Title: Is This All There Is?
Author: Patricia Mann
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: “Is this all there is?” It’s a question every wife and mother eventually finds herself asking and thirty-five year old Beth Thomas is no exception. On the surface, her life is perfect. She’s married to her college sweetheart, has two beautiful little boys, and enjoys her part-time teaching appointment at the local university. But when a friend persuades Beth to go dancing on a rare night out, a chance meeting with twenty-one year old Dave, one of her former students, changes the course of her life. Loud music, too much to drink, and the thrill of feeling young again lead to an unforgettable kiss that was never supposed to happen. Beth tries to leave the memory behind, but Dave convinces her that he fell in love with her while he was in her class. As he continues to pursue her, he forces her to look at everything in her life through a different lens and the temptation of what he’s offering becomes too strong.
Patricia Mann’s “Is This All There Is?” introduces readers to the seemingly perfect world of Beth Thomas, a 35-year-old mother and wife who takes a risqué detour from diapers and duty to chart a course into erotica, deception and deceit. As the part-time college professor yields to the overpowering push and pull that follow a magnetic encounter with a former student, Beth is held captive in the seductive space that lingers between desire and reason. Honest and moving, Mann’s work is a touching snapshot of middle-America today, a compelling story about one woman’s struggle to keep up appearances while coming undone.
Down and Out in Bugtussle by Stephanie McAfeeTitle: Down and Out in Bugtussle
Author: Stephanie McAfee
Received: Penguin
Synopsis: With her fiancé now her ex-fiancé, Ace has hightailed it back to Bugtussle, Mississippi, and back to her Gramma Jones’s house. Her best friends, Lilly and Chloe, are delighted she’s back, but Ace still has some challenges ahead of her.
For one thing, her replacement as Bugtussle High School’s art teacher, Cameron Becker, refuses to vacate the position. So Ace is stuck working as a substitute teacher while harboring fantasies of running Miss Becker out of town. On top of that, Lilly and Chloe are obsessed with setting her up on less-than-romantic blind dates—even though all she wants is a break from her pitiful love life.
To ease her troubled mind, Ace resolves to restore her grandmother’s gardens to their former glory. But in the well-worn gardening book she’s dug out of her grandmother’s attic there are a series of suspicious notes that indicate her grandmother may have had a special someone in her past. Now, with her faithful chiweenie, Buster Loo, by her side, Ace is determined to get to the bottom of her grandmother’s secret life, all the while hoping her own life isn’t about to implode….
Save the Date by Allie SpencerTitle: Save the Date!
Author: Allie Spencer
Received: Random House UK
Synopsis: The only thing worse than the family holiday from hell, is the family wedding from hell. So, when faced with being marooned in a Tuscan castle with her thoroughly dysfunctional family for the 1930s-themed wedding of her rich, over-spoilt cousin Jessica, who could blame Ailsa Stuart for being less than enthusiastic?
As her family’s exhausted peacemaker she will have her work cut out. Not only is there her own nearest and dearest to deal with, but the sudden appearance of her ex-husband, desperate to reconcile with her almost sends her over the edge. But Ailsa needs to pull herself together, because without her calm presence, the wedding could end badly for all of them.
He’s The One by Katie PriceTitle: He’s the One
Author: Katie Price
Received: Colbert Macalister PR
Synopsis: A passionate story of lost love and second chances, from the bestselling Katie Price.
Twenty-year-old Liberty is beautiful, ambitious and dreams of making it as an actress. She is also a single mother and has a three-year old daughter, Brooke. Living with her mother, she supports her daughter by modelling and working as a waitress.
Then, over one perfect summer, Liberty meets and falls in love with Cory, a young American taking time off from university. But Liberty never feels good enough for him, and when she meets his university friends, she feels it’s only fair to let him go. Heartbroken, Cory leaves to go back to the States.
Liberty, meanwhile, suddenly gets the break she’s been praying for. Zac, a TV director has seen her picture and wants her to audition for a role in LA. And so, Liberty and Brooke begin a new phase of their lives. Suddenly, she is successful, but she can’t forget Cory. Until news of his engagement reaches her, and she finally agrees to marry Zac.
Years later, everything has changed. Liberty has fled LA, taking a reluctant teenage Brooke with her. But returning to her home town of Brighton reawakens painful memories. Especially as she meets Cory again. She still loves him, but he seems to hate her. Can she ever convince him to trust her again?
CLP Blog Tours Excerpt: Catching the Bad Guy by Marie …
Marie Astor is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Catching the Bad Guy, and I am excited to share an excerpt from the…
Book Review: Seven Night Stand by Nicole Helm
Disclaimer: I received a copy of Seven Night stand by Nicole Helm in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Reality TV scout Vivvy Marsh loves her job, but she’ll lose it if she doesn’t find a hit. When she’s sent to Demo, Kansas to scout a show, it looks like a bust. It’s flat, boring, and she’s not inspired…until she meets sexy pilot, Nate Harrington.
Nate can’t deny his feelings for Vivvy. She’s beautiful, and doesn’t blink an eye at his crazy family. He could get used to her…but her Hollywood lifestyle doesn’t fly in his small town.
Their feelings deepen, but they’re going to have to part ways at the end of seven days, or one of them is going to have to make a sacrifice that’ll change their lives forever.
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. The story is quick and easy to read and flowed very well. I am not a fan of reality TV but this book doesn’t really rub it in your face and I think Nicole did a really good job at tying it into the overall story. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Vivvy and Nate and thought that they were really cute together. There are a couple of characters that came and went throughout the story that I didn’t really care very much for but I think Vivvy and Nate really made up for that. Overall, this a quick read and fairly entertaining.
Rating: 4 stars
Book Review: The Guest House by Erika Marks
I received a copy of The Guest House by Erika Marks in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
For generations, the natives of Harrisport have watched wealthy summer families descend on their Cape Cod town, inhabiting the massive cottages along the town’s best stretches of beachfront. But when rich Southerner Tucker Moss breaks the heart of local girl Edie Wright in the summer of 1966, an enduring war starts between the two families that lasts for generations….
Edie’s youngest child, Lexi, should know better than to fall in love with a Moss, but at eighteen, she falls hard for Tucker’s son, Hudson—only to find herself jilted when Hudson breaks off their engagement.
Eleven years later, Lexi returns home after two years away studying architectural photography, just in time for yet another summer on the Cape. When Hudson’s younger brother, Cooper, arrives unexpectedly to sell the seaside estate after the death of his father and hires Lexi to photograph it, an unlikely attraction forms, and Lexi finds herself torn once again between passion and family loyalty.
Then renovations at the Moss guest house reveal a forty-six-year-old declaration of love carved into a piece of framing—and a startling truth that will force two women and the men who love them to confront the treacherous waters of their pasts.
Review:
As I’ve been known to favor books that go between past and present, it should come to no surprise how much I enjoyed this book. While usually the past is meaning the late 1800’s or early 1900’s, this book features the time period of 1966, when Edie gets her heart broken from Tucker Moss. It was great to read the entwined stories of how mother and daughter both suffered at the hands of a Moss man, and the other similarities their stories tell. The ending was so intriguing when secrets were revealed – and I enjoyed the nice little twist that came with that! The setting of the Cape Cod town was enchanting to read about, and the strong writing quickly enticed me to fall deeper into the story. Simply a wonderful book to read!
4.5 stars
Future Tour: Crisis of Identity by Denise Moncrief
Denise will be on tour July 15-August 5 with her romantic suspense novel Crisis of Identity Tess Copeland is an operator. Her motto? Necessity is…
