Future Tour: Until the End of Forever by Shannon Hart
Shannon Hart will be on tour September 12- October 3 with her debut novel Until the End of Forever When Sarah Matthews keeps having recurring…
Shannon Hart will be on tour September 12- October 3 with her debut novel Until the End of Forever When Sarah Matthews keeps having recurring…
After the accidental death of her parents, Emily retreated to their home, where she freelances for an online greeting card company and tries to come…
Lacy is on tour September 19-October 10 with her novel The Last Page Norah Johnson is at a crossroads and is in desperate need to…
Lee Tucker is in disbelief after her husband commits suicide. The disbelief doesn’t just come from his death, but also what comes after the funeral. Turns out her husband had made a few deals, worth one million dollars in loans, and now the loan shark is after Lee to pay that money back. After Lee discovers she is pregnant, and in no way able to repay her husband’s debts right away, she flees to her mother’s house in a small Oregon town. Her hometown is filled with ugly memories, including an alcoholic mother who never seemed to care for Lee. Since her mother succumbed to the alcoholism, and her house was left Lee, she decides to fix it up and sell it to pay the remaining debt. After a wonderful neighbor helps Lee get settled back into her childhood home, she finds a job as a business consultant at a struggling restaurant. While there, she is met with cold shoulders and hostility by the owner’s son, but pushes on with determination to make the restaurant succeed- and hoping her life will finally turn around.
The heroine in Riversong by Tess Hardwick can be described as resilient and determined. You learn right away about her horrible childhood with a sad excuse for a mother, and understand why she sometimes carries a chip on her shoulder. I was rooting for Lee the entire way throughout the book, and she is someone you want to see catch a break in life. This is Hardwick’s debut novel, and I feel she is an author to watch for. I enjoyed all the restaurant scenes and how hard Lee worked to make it a success, and the stories of other residents among the small town will make you smile while pulling at your heart. There were a few grammatical errors in there that I caught, and sometimes I wondered why the loan shark didn’t think to first look at her hometown for her, but overall, I really enjoyed a beautiful story with a smart heroine to connect with.
[Rating: 4]
It’s another girl for Jessica Alba and Cash Warren! The couple welcomed daughter Haven Garner Warren on Saturday, and Alba shared the good news on her Facebook page. “She was born on Saturday, weighed 7 lbs and was 19 inches long. Healthy and happy! Big sister Honor couldn’t be more excited about the new addition to our family.” Haven joins Honor Marie, 3.
Hilary Duff is pregnant! The former Disney star, who married pro hockey player Mike Comrie on August 14th last year, announced on her website the good news. “This weekend, Mike and I are celebrating our one year anniversary! In memory of the special day, we decided to post some of our favorite pictures from our wedding! I can’t believe it has already been a year. Time really flies when you’re having fun! We also want to share the exciting news that baby makes three! We are extremely happy and ready to start this new chapter of our lives. Thanks to everyone for the continued love and support throughout the years!” This will be the first child for Duff, 23, and Comrie, 30.
In My Mailbox: Week of August 14
Title: Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
Author: Denise Grover Swank
Received: From Denise Grover Swank via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: “It all started when I saw myself dead.” For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn’t enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect. Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen– do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty secrets of his own. Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.
Title: Merciless
Author: Diana Palmer
Received: From Jaime at Planned Television Arts
Synopsis: Can she convince a man to let down his defenses when he’s set on guarding his heart? Tall, dark and eligible? That’s all that matters to the women of Jacobsville when it comes to handsome and aloof FBI agent Jon Blackhawk. But if it were up to him, he would never settle down. Luckily, Jon has the best gatekeeper: his efficient and reliable assistant, Joceline Perry. Without her help, he’d be at the mercy of husband hunters—but the more he comes to rely on her, the more he notices how invaluable she really is… While Joceline can’t deny that her boss is attractive, as a single mother with responsibilities she’s determined to be professional. But when Jon is accosted by a criminal seeking revenge, she comes to his aid—fueling the spark that is growing between them. As the attempts on Jon’s life increase, Joceline stands by his side. But when the smoke clears, will the man who avoided love realize that all he ever needed was right there all along?
Title: Goddess of Vengeance
Author: Jackie Collins
Received: From Ann-Marie @ Get Red PR
Synopsis: Lucky runs a high profile casino and hotel complex, The Keys in Vegas.
Lennie, her movie star husband, is still writing and directing successful independent movies, while Max, her stubborn and gorgeous teenage daughter is about to celebrate her 18th birthday, and her son, Bobby, owns a string of hot clubs. Lucky has everything. Family. Love. Life.
And everything is exactly what billionaire businessman Armand Jordan is determined to take from her one way or the other.
Born a Prince in the small but affluent Middle Eastern country of Akramshar, Armand comes to America with his American mother at an early age, and rises to become a real estate business titan. Armand regards women as nothing more than breeding mares or sexual playthings, so when his people inform him that the one property he covets more than anything, The Keys, is not for sale, he is shocked. That a mere woman would dare to turn down his offer to buy The Keys is unthinkable, and Armand vows to force Lucky’s hand whatever it takes. And so the battle for power begins . . .
Meanwhile Bobby is dealing with shady Russian investors, while his girlfriend—smart and independent Denver Jones—is becoming a Deputy D.A. in the L.A. drug unit.
And Max, Bobby’s seventeen year old sister, is busy embarking on a forbidden affair with a sexy young movie star. An affair they have to keep on the down-low lest Lucky finds out.
The word is that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” and what happens in Goddess of Vengeance will blow your mind!
Title: Aftertaste
Author: Meredith Mileti
Received: From Kensington Books (unsolicited)
Synopsis: Mira Rinaldi lives life at a rolling boil. Co-owner of Grappa, a chic New York City trattoria, she has an enviable apartment, a brand-new baby, and a frenzied schedule befitting her success. Everything changes the night she catches her husband, Jake, “wielding his whisk” with Grappa’s new waitress. Mira’s fiery response earns her a court-ordered stint in anger management and the beginning of legal and personal predicaments as she battles to save her restaurant and pick up the pieces of her life. Mira falls back on family and friends in Pittsburgh as she struggles to find a recipe for happiness. But the heat is really on when some surprising developments in New York present her with a high stakes opportunity to win back what she thought she had lost forever. For Mira, cooking isn’t just about delicious flavours and textures, but about the pleasure found in filling others’ needs. And the time has come to decide where her own fulfilment lies – even if the answers are unexpected.
Lennie Ross is on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Blow Me Blow Me is the story of three single women—each close to forty and…
Meredith Schorr is on tour August 15-29 with her novel Just Friends With Benefits When a friend urges Stephanie Cohen not to put all her…