Blog Tour Sign Up: Battle-Born Love by Lynda Bailey
Lynda will be on tour in January with her contemporary romance novel Battle-Born Love. I am looking for bloggers to post reviews, guest posts, interview…
A Summer in Europe by Marilyn Brant
I received a copy of A Summer in Europe in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
On her thirtieth birthday, Gwendolyn Reese receives an unexpected present from her widowed Aunt Bea: a grand tour of Europe in the company of Bea’s Sudoku and Mah-jongg Club. The prospect isn’t entirely appealing. But when the gift she is expecting — an engagement ring from her boyfriend — doesn’t materialize, Gwen decides to go. At first, Gwen approaches the trip as if it’s the math homework she assigns her students, diligently checking monuments off her must-see list. But amid the bougainvillea and stunning vistas of southern Italy, something changes. Gwen begins to live in the moment: skipping down stone staircases in Capri, running her fingers over a glacier in view of the Matterhorn, racing through the Louvre, and taste-testing pastries at a Marseilles cafe. Revelling in every new experience — especially her attraction to a charismatic British physics professor — Gwen discovers that the ancient wonders around her are nothing compared to the renaissance unfolding within…
My Review:
While there were parts I enjoyed about this book, I thought the writing was a bit too slow and heavy for me to become really engaged in the plot. I was tickled that Gwen lives in Dubuque, IA, which is my hometown, and liked watching her grow throughout the story. There were some great descriptions of her travels that were probably my favorite due to my love of traveling. But I just never felt that connection to the book due to the pacing, and a lot of times I felt that Gwen’s narrations didn’t match her age; I kept viewing her as much, much older than thirty. Overall I thought it was okay, but not one of my favorites.
[Rating: 3]
Suburban Task Force by Addison Towne
Addison Towne is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Suburban Task Force. This book really took me out of my real life and deposited me right in with the characters. The MC is Jade Lydell, a thirty-year old suburban wife living in an identical house as her friends and enjoying game nights with other couples. A home invasion scare makes Jade want to feel better protected, so she signs up herself and two girlfriends for gun safety and all around self-defense courses. The ladies leave the weekend feeling pretty good should they ever enter a situation where they can put their knowledge to good use…but has no idea how soon – and how extreme – that situation will be.
While at a VIP party on Catalina Island filled with celebrities and politicians, the women find themselves in a surreal situation – taken hostage by a rogue terrorist group. The men and women get separated, all outside communication is cut off, and there are already homicide victims. Jade and friends band together to try to do the unthinkable – make it out alive and help free the hostages. I was holding my breath multiple times while reading all the hostage chapters. Even though if I really think about it the plot can seem a bit unbelievable, I was still highly entertained throughout. The ending was particularly my favorite, and I was speeding through the chapters to see how the situation would end. I think action-packed is a great way to describe this book, and I enjoyed it and look forward to more from Addison Towne!
[Rating: 4]
On Tour: Suburban Task Force by Addison Towne
Addison will be on tour October 15-29 with her novel Suburban Task Force Suburban Task Force is a humor filled, high octane, action-comedy. It follows…
In My Mailbox: Week of October 14
In Samantha’s Mailbox:
Title: Sparkle
Author: Cara Leyba
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: As women, we have become professional self-critics. We’ve become so convinced by society that we need to attain a level of perfection that just isn’t real. Whether it’s trying to get skinnier, look younger, get that promotion, please our parents, get fuller lips or rid ourselves of cellulite — we’re on a never-ending mission to change and it always winds up making us feel like crap. Instead, why not focus on all the fabulous qualities we already possess? There is so much to celebrate when we look at all our accomplishments. In this straight-up girlfriend’s guide, lifestylist and wellness coach Cara Alwill Leyba encourages women to discover what makes them sparkle so that they can design the lives they desire and deserve. So raise your glass and toast yourself. You’re about to start shimmering, shining and dazzling every day! Because isn’t everything better when it sparkles?
Title: Sad Desk Salad
Author: Jessica Grose
Received: From HarperCollins
Synopsis: As a writer for Chick Habit, an increasingly popular women’s website, Alex Lyons gets paid to be a bitch. She’s churning out several posts a day, and she saves her juiciest ones for blog prime time, when working women eat their sad desk salads in their offices. Alex tells herself she’s fulfilling her dream of being a professional writer; so what if it means being glued to her couch and her laptop from six a.m. to six p.m., scouring the web in search of the next big celebrity scandal? Since Chick Habit’s parent company keeps close tabs on page views, Alex knows her job is always at risk.
So when an anonymous tipster sends her the year’s most salacious story—a politico’s squeaky-clean Ivy League daughter caught in a very R-rated activity—it’s a no-brainer. But is Alex really willing to ruin the girl’s life by igniting the next Internet feeding frenzy? And what she doesn’t yet realize is how this big scoop is about to send her own life spiraling out of control.
Title: A Very Accidental Love Story
Author: Claudia Carroll
Received: From Avon Books, Unsolicited
Synopsis: Eloise Elliot is one of the youngest newspaper editors in the country. Respected and revered by her peers, she’s at the top of her game.
But, on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, finding herself surrounded by some pathetic looking balloons and mangy sandwiches in The Daily Post’s conference room, Eloise is hit but a long sharp pang of loneliness.
Suddenly, and with dazzling clarity, she realises what she wants to make her life more complete. A baby.
One successful trip to the sperm bank and almost three years later and she is the adoring mother of a gorgeous little girl, Lily. Juggling a high-powered job with motherhood is not easy and when she finds herself without childcare she sends an SOS to her sister Helen. Yet it’s when Lily starts asking about her ‘daddy’ that Eloise really starts to panic. What will she tell her?
In Sara’s Mailbox:
Title: The Girl, the Gold Tooth and Everything
Author: Francine LaSala
Received: Francine LaSala
Synopsis: Mina Clark is losing her mind—or maybe it’s already gone. She isn’t quite sure. Feeling displaced in her over-priced McMansion-dotted suburban world, she is grappling not only with deep debt, a mostly absent husband, and her playground-terrorizer 3-year old Emma, but also with a significant amnesia she can’t shake—a “temporary” condition now going on several years, brought on by a traumatic event she cannot remember, and which everyone around her feels is best forgotten. A routine trip to the dentist changes everything for Mina, and suddenly she’s not sure if what’s happening is real, of if she’s just now fully losing her mind… especially when she realizes the only person she thought she could trust is the one she fears the most.
This latest novel by Francine LaSala (Rita Hayworth’s Shoes) is a fast-paced, richly layered, and darkly humorous satire filled with quirky characters and unforgettable moments of humanity.
Foodie Review: Special K Cracker Chips
I love chips. Doritos in particular. And of course, once you eat one, you eat….like forty-seven. I started the search for a different chip to satisfy my craving, and landed on the Special K Cracker Chips. I grabbed the Sour Cream and Onion, and I am happy to report that these are a new staple in the house! I was worried they would taste too…healthy…but I honestly didn’t taste much of a difference between these and regular chips. I compared calories between the two, and Doritos (Nacho Cheese, which I prefer) came in at 150 calories per 11 chips. Special K is 110 calories per 27 chips. It’s clear you get more chip for less calories with Special K, and you aren’t losing a tasty snack. Even my fiancé has approved the chips, and often takes a small bag with him to work to munch on when he gets hungry. If you are looking for a better for you snack, I would give the Special K Cracker Chips a shot!
The Queen Gene by Jennifer Coburn
I received a copy of The Queen Gene in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
After selling her home in the suburbs, Lucy Klein decides to pursue her lifelong dream of starting an arts community in the Berkshire Mountains. She envisions a creative oasis where struggling painters, sculptors and musicians visit from around the world. But the dream soon becomes a nightmare when the artists arrive and not a single one can create anything — except trouble, that is.
To make matters worse, Lucy’s ultra-high-maintenance mother, Anjoli is singularly focused on finding a holistic cure for her teacup Chihuahua’s obsessive compulsive, hair-pulling disorder. Rebirthing, acupuncture and white light therapy just aren’t helping poor little Paz. But Anjoli soon has new problems to contend with, like the NYU sorority house going up across the street from her.
Then there’s Lucy’s gorgeous cousin Kimmy who recently married herself in a dress made of disco ball mirrors, and now wants to get pregnant with Ivy League sperm. Deciding sperm banks have too many rules, she decides to go about things the old fashion way — with a roundtrip train ticket to Princeton and a change of panties in her designer purse.
Lest we forget about Lucy’s 84-year-old Aunt Bernice who is grieving the loss of her sister who recently died at Red Lobster. Though she misses her Floridian counterpart, Bernice is not going to let anything stand in her way of exploring brave new worlds –and Brazilian bikini waxes.
Enjoy a wild ride through the world of way over-the-top kiddie birthday parties, puppy psychotherapy and “performance art” weddings with a family so nutty, it will make you appreciate your own!
Between Lucy’s relatives and the artists from hell, it’s a wonder she can focus on her own life.
My Review:
Ah, Coburn’s books have been cracking me up! The Queen Gene is no different, and I laughed my way through this novel. I literally got the hiccups from laughing so hard when it came to Anjoli and her dog! The artist community that Lucy and husband Jack create turn out to be nothing but trouble – but hilarious ones for the readers. If you are looking for some comedic relief mixed in with an engaging plot and lovely MC, pick up The Queen Gene–– ¬and check out more of Jennifer Coburn’s books for that matter!
[Rating: 4.5]
Run the Risk by Lori Foster
I received a copy of Run the Risk in exchange for an honest review. I have been reading Lori Foster’s romance suspense novels featuring hunks of male man meat for a while now, and they are just …. tantalizing. The covers, the men in between the pages, these spicy novels are just irresistible! Detective Logan Riske goes undercover to find Rowdy Yates, a link to finding out who killed his best friend. He tracks down Rowdy’s sister, Pepper, but doesn’t think he will fall for the woman who is also undercover as Sue Meeks. What Logan doesn’t realize is that Pepper might be the missing link after all…
I though Run the Risk was a very engaging book, in more ways that just Logan being one studly man. I liked the suspense in regards to Logan’s partner and the lieutenant, and whether they were trustworthy or part of the corrupt cop group. There were a lot of plot twists that kept me interesting, and the sex scenes between Logan and Pepper were pretty intense. If you like spicy romances with lots of suspense and even some murder thrown in, check out Lori Foster and Run the Risk!
[Rating: 4]
Future Tour: A State of Jane by Meredith Schorr
Meredith will be on tour January 2-21 with her chick lit novel A State of Jane Jane Frank is ready to fall in love. It’s…
