CLP Blog Tours Book Review: Reckless Abandon by Jenn Flynn-Shon
Jenn Flynn-Shon is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Reckless Abandon. While I’m not normally a huge fan on novellas, I have to…
Future Tour: The Blasphemy Box by Mandy Behbehani
Mandy will be on tour June 10-July 1 with her women’s fiction novel The Blasphemy Box “You know that nightmare you’ve always had? The one…
In My Mailbox: Week of April 28
In My Mailbox: Week of April 28
Title: Cocktail Hour
Author: Tara McTiernan
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: What if your friend – someone admired, envied, and fervently sought after by everyone who knew her – was really a dangerous sociopath?
In her latest novel, Cocktail Hour, mainstream fiction author Tara McTiernan answers that question as she takes you on a wild roller coaster ride of thrilling highs and terrifying lows in this gripping novel about friendship gone horribly wrong.
Spring in glamorous uber-rich Fairfield County, Connecticut is a time of beginnings: a new diet for the approaching summer spent out on the yacht, fresh-faced interns being offered up at the office as the seasonal sacrifice to the gods of money, and corporate takeovers galore. Five women in their thirties have a brand-new friendship, too, one that fed and watered regularly at local hotspots over cocktails. With all of their personal struggles – Lucie’s new catering business is foundering due to vicious gossip, Kate’s marriage is troubled due to an inability to conceive, Chelsea’s series of misses in the romance department have led to frantic desperation, and Sharon’s career problems are spinning out of control – the women look forward to a break and a drink and a chance to let their guards down with their friends. And letting their guards down is the last thing they should do in the kind of company they unknowingly keep with the fifth member of their cocktail-clique: Bianca Rossi, a woman who will stop at nothing to have it all.
As each woman’s life is affected by this she-wolf in sheep’s clothing, the truth starts to come out, but will they see it before it’s too late? Or will their doubts about their own perceptions and gut feelings stop them from protecting themselves in time? Exciting, chilling, and emotionally charged, Tara McTiernan delivers a delicious page-turner that will change your view of everyone you think you know.
Title: Looming Murder
Author: Carol Ann Martin
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: LOOM WITH A VIEW
Della Wright has come to peaceful and picturesque Briar Hollow, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, to realize her lifelong dream of owning a weaving studio. To promote her new business, Dream Weavers, Della is offering weaving workshops for all levels of ability. In her first class, she meets half a dozen of the town’s colorful characters, who seem as eager to gossip as to learn how to work a loom.
But when a shady local businessman is found murdered, Briar Hollow suddenly appears a lot less idyllic. And when one of her weaving students is suspected of the crime, Della can’t help getting entangled in the investigation—with some help from her criminologist friend, Matthew. But can she weave together clues as well as she weaves together yarn—and stop a killer from striking again?
Title: Domestic Affairs
Author: Bridget Siegel
Received: FSB Associates
Synopsis: When twenty-something political fundraiser Olivia Greenley is recruited by her close friend Jacob Harriston to join the Presidential campaign of Georgia Governor Landon Taylor, she is intoxicated by optimism and opportunity. Taylor’s commitment to social equality and economic responsibility in the post-housing-bubble era is palpable. Sacrificing her sleep, comfort and income are certain to help make the world a better place. Right?
Domestic Affairs: A Campaign Novel vividly captures the fervor and idealism of campaign life—as well as the disillusionment staffers feel when told to make the inevitable compromises. Leaving a meeting with foreclosure victims to hop onto a private jet is one thing, but how to justify dining at a $2,000-a-plate dinner knowing how many lunches the money could buy for at-risk kids? How far does one go when the ends appear to justify the means? And what’s a girl to do when the most charming, erudite, capable and ostensibly honorable man in the free world wants to take her to bed (but he’s married and her boss)? How does it feel to keep the biggest secret of her life from her best friend and coworker, even as the three of them spend every waking hour together? The tension between characters, right and wrong, and between success and implosion are taut.
Title: The Love Wars
Author: L. Alison Heller
Received: Penguin Group
Synopsis: Breaking up is hard to do. At least the first few times.
Even though Molly Grant has only a handful of relationships behind her, she’s already been through more divorces than she can count.
At the premier Manhattan law firm where she’s a matrimonial attorney, the hours are long, the bosses tyrannical, and the bonuses stratospheric. Her clients are rich, famous, and used to getting their way. Molly’s job—and primary concern in life—is to work as hard as possible to make sure they do. Until she meets the client who changes everything….
Fern Walker is the desperate former wife of a ruthless media mogul. Her powerful ex is slowly pushing her out of her young children’s lives, and she fears losing them forever. Molly—haunted by an incident from her own past—finds herself unable to walk away from Fern and sets out to help her. She just needs to do it without her bosses finding out.
Now, as complications both professional and personal stack up, Molly can only hope that her own wits, heart, and instincts are enough—both in and out of court.
Title: A Certain Summer
Author: Patricia Beard
Received: Kristin @ Simon & Schuster
Synopsis: It is 1948 at Wauregan, an idyllic island summer community. Helen Wadsworth, whose husband has been declared mysteriously missing on an OSS operation in France, is seeking the truth about his disappearance. But while she waits and hopes, two other men fall in love with her, creating a complicated romantic triangle. In the background of this world of privilege are Helen’s fourteen-year-old son, Jack; Kathleen, the Irish housekeeper who has worked for the Wadsworths for two generations; and a heroic German Shepherd that served in the Pacific theater. The mystique—and the myth—at Wauregan is that “nothing ever changes here,” but that is mined with the traumas of husbands returned from the war, and wives who cannot imagine the horrors they experienced in combat. Scarred by battle, these men longed for their families and their island refuge, only to find themselves emotionally distant, and struggling to reenter society. Part mystery, part love story, and part insider’s view of a rarified, private world, A Certain Summer will resonate with every reader who has ever dreamt of a special summer place.
Author Profile: Ellen Cardona
Author Name: Ellen Cardona
Website: http://www.ellencardona.com/
Bio: Ellen Cardona wrote Brownie Fix to help deal with the postpartum depression she experienced after one of her pregnancies. Through her writing, she found that postpartum depression was real but conquerable, especially when one has the help of some dark chocolate and even darker humor.
When Ellen is not writing, she teaches literature to college freshmen and attempts to help them understand the writing process, though they think she’s crazy because of her love for literature and writing.
Ellen graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a PhD in Humanities with a specialization in Literature. Even though she has published several academic works on Ezra Pound, she could not ignore her true passion as a fiction writer.
Ellen lives in Richardson, Texas and continues to learn daily from her husband and two children. In good times and bad, she still enjoys her brownies.
Visit Ellen’s tour page!
Connect
http://www.ellencardona.com
http://www.facebook.com/EllenCardona
http://twitter.com/#!/ellencardona
http://ellencardona.com/blog/
Buy
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IC38EU/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=ellencardonac-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B005IC38EU&adid=1AR1GXZZAECEWZJEMZMT&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fellencardona.com%2F
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brownie-fix-ellen-cardona/1105068099?ean=2940013043732&cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-plecO0ACyhE-_-2%3a2940013043732&
Paperback at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Brownie-Fix-Ellen-Cardona/dp/1466221518/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1341330305&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=ellen+cardona
Blog Tour Sign Up: The Legacy of the Key by …
No matter where you are, facing your reality with passion and purpose will always lead down the path you were intended to go.
Reece Bryant was able to pick up the pieces of her broken life after the sudden death of her father. Though emotionally draining, she found the courage to move on, which would have made her father proud.
After finalizing the last of his estate, and returning to pursue her degree in medical school, she has never felt so confident. While making her way through this world on her own, she is
suddenly confronted with the truth of her existence, and the reality of her future.
It is when she encounters two alluring and mysterious men, that a series of extraordinary events takes place, putting Reece’s life in grave danger. With her life in the balance, Reece must blindly trust the two mysterious strangers; and when she does, she is brought into an enchanting world that is beyond her logical comprehension. This captivating land reveals new worlds and new dimensions to which her existence is paramount.
But it is once she falls in love with the stunning Levi Oxley that everything will change, and Reece’s life will be in more danger than ever before. Forced to return to Earth and face a Council of Worlds, Reece discovers there is more to this enchanting dimension than she could have ever imagined.
At a moment’s notice, even thru the fog of our denial, our journey can become
crystal clear. And within the revelation, once our fear subsides, we can find contentment and purpose if we focus on the things that matter most.
Trust—Courage—Love.
Q&A with Monika Zgustova
A little Q&A with author Monika Zgustova:
Describe the book in your own words.
Fresh Mint with Lemon is a story of a love triangle. The three main characters, a man and two women, are extremely sensitive and full of regard for one another, and it’s hard for them to make decisions. For that reason, hardly anything happens between them: they talk and talk, but without really getting to know one another better because, at the bottom of it all, they are afraid to learn what the others might think. The novel, a light summer diversion that takes place during torrid July afternoons and sensual Mediterranean nights near the coast, is a story of longing for happiness, love, and tenderness, which seem to be unattainable. In place of these things there is eternal misunderstanding between three people with very different pasts.
Describe any of the major figures, personalities and characters within the book.
Vadim is a sensitive Russian man who is strongly attracted to Patricia—a well-known American painter—and later to Radhika—an American of Indian origins, and a feminist militant. Vadim lives most of the time in his dreams rather than in tangible reality, and this makes him extremely indecisive. He cannot get what he wants in life because he doesn’t struggle hard enough for anything. This isn’t a big concern for him though; he is happy in his expectations and in his longings. According to his philosophy, the path towards a certain goal is more important than achieving the goal.
How did you come up with the idea for the book? How did it come to be?
I read Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being and was fascinated by the misunderstandings that words create between different people, as exposed in the section of the novel called “A Short Dictionary of Misunderstood Words.” I wanted to write my own book about misunderstandings between people who have different pasts or different cultural experiences. As far as the setting of the novel is concerned, I live on the Mediterranean coast, in Sitges, near Barcelona, so the location of the novel expresses my fondness for the place that has become my home.
How did you come up with the title of the book?
One summer night I was sitting with some friends in an outdoor café in the center of Barcelona and trying to decide what I felt like drinking. Then I noticed a sign on the blackboard with the café’s recommendations: “Fresh mint with lemon” was one of them. I thought it sounded very refreshing and summery, full of Mediterranean aromas and tastes. I thought of using the name of the drink as the title of my little summer book and shared my idea with my friends; they were all for it. We each drank a glass of fresh mint with lemon that night.
2Author Background
Birthday: March 22
Place of birth: Prague, Czechoslovakia
Are you associated with any causes or nonprofits? Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
What is your academic background? Which schools did you attend? What was your degree in? I got my basic education in Prague. Then, in the United States, I studied comparative literature at the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago. I got both my master’s degree and my PhD in this field.
Please list any awards or honors you’ve received:
City of Barcelona Award for the Catalan translation of The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier švejk by Jaroslav Hašek
Catalan Letters Award for the translation of The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier švejk by Jaroslav Hašek
Mercè Rodoreda Award for my collection of short stories, Absent Moon
Runner-up for the National Award of the Spanish Ministry of Culture for my novel The Silent Woman
Ángel Crespo Award for Translation for the Spanish translation of The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier švejk by Jaroslav Hašek, and for my translation work in general
Gratias Agit Award from the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs for my work as an author and translator
Do you have a blog or author website? If so, what is the URL? www.monikazgustova.com
Favorites & General Questions
What are your top five favorite books?
The Lady with a Little Dog by Anton Chekhov
The Short Stories of Katherine Mansfield by Katherine Mansfield
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver
L’Education sentimental by Gustave Flaubert
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
What are your top five favorite films?
Amarcord directed by Federico Fellini
Il gattopardo (The Leopard) directed by Luchino Visconti
Blue Velvet directed by David Lynch
Kagemusha directed by Akira Kurosawa
The Russian Ark directed by Alexander Sokurov
You can find Monika’s book here:
Book Review: Condemn Me Not by Dianne Venetta
I received a copy of Condemn Me Not by Dianne Venetta in exchange for an honest review.
Two women, who have been friends since college, Simone and Claire, have lived very different lives. Upon graduation from college, they both chose different paths. Now, years later, the two find themselves at a common crossroads where they must look into their past and their present and examine what really matters when their daughters issue opposing proclamations with regard to college. As the two long time friends battle the news differently, they soon come to the realization that some decisions are not easy and it may complicate each of their respective relationships with their daughters. In turn, that leads both of them to wander where they went wrong.
Oh man, I really, really enjoyed this book. For years I have sat back and watched people around me with kids make decisions and I will be honest, I sometimes judged them based on what those decisions were. But, as a new mom myself, I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes things aren’t as easy as they appear and everything always looks different from an outside perspective. Well, the same thing applies here. These two women are faced with a tough decision and the way that they react could really have repercussions with their daughters. So, whats a parent to do? I think Dianne examines that question and really presents the characters in a very raw and real portrayal of what that might look like in real life. This book is really good and I am so glad that I had the privilege to read it.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Book Excerpt: By Design by Jayne Denker
Here is an excerpt from BY DESIGN by Jayne Denker.
He pushed open the door and ushered her inside. Emmie, braced for an unpleasant shock along the lines of the kitchen and the bathrooms, gasped. Spread across almost the entire back expanse of the house, the massive bedroom was stunning, even in its present dilapidated state. The first thing that caught her eye was a fireplace, the bricks over the opening blackened, the mantel worn, but . . . a fireplace. In the bedroom. Emmie was ready to move in right then and there. Two walls were made up entirely of windows. The only place available for a bed was to the right of the door, opposite the south-facing windows, so the spot was graced with year-round sunlight. Built-in cupboards wrapped all the way around the spot for the bed, from the closet door on the far side to the bedroom door and all the way to the ceiling. They were worn and in need of refinishing, but their effect, of real wood paneling, was rich and dramatic.
Emmie took a few steps farther into the room and turned her face up to the thin winter sun, imagining how warm and bright it would be only a few months from now, with the strengthening sunlight making it feel like spring in the room, even as winter hung on for dear life outside.
“You like it?” Graham asked.
Emmie closed her eyes and nodded, smiling blissfully, thinking about what it would be like to wake up to the view of the backyard every morning, the sun shining down on the fruit trees that peppered the gentle swell of the acre behind the house . . . being served breakfast in bed by a lady’s maid . . . the master of the house (just for the sake of argument, that role could be played by Graham) beside her . . .
Emmie let herself get lost in her daydream for so long that, when she noticed the silence in the room, she jumped. She shook herself, opened her eyes, and looked over at Graham. He was staring at her. She blushed furiously. No wonder Wilma hardly ever let her out by herself. Graham must think she was a complete loony.
But he just smiled. “The room suits you.”
And then came a little . . . hitch. He was silent, Emmie was silent. His mouth clamped shut in a straight line as he looked at her, then glanced away uncomfortably. Emmie had no idea how it had happened, but something . . . extra . . . was there in the room with them. And it wasn’t the ghost of a lady’s maid.
“So—”
“Right.”
“—that’s pretty much it, unless you want to see the attic,” he said, swinging his arms a bit too jauntily, startling Emmie. Graham was usually so serenely contained that his sudden random, jerky movements were jarring.
“I can skip the attic for now,” she said. The house was completely quiet. Apparently the workers were taking a break. She wondered how long it had been since their sawing and sledgehammering had fallen silent—had they just stopped, or had she been so caught up in spending time with Graham that she hadn’t noticed the house had gone quiet ages ago?
As they descended to the first floor again, Graham said from behind her, “So . . . what’s the Emmie story?”
“The what?”
“The Emmie story. You know—”
At the bottom of the stairs, she turned to him and made a face. “You mean my Very Special Relationship with John?”
Graham laughed, which made her toes tingle. She loved his open, genuine smile. “Not necessarily. But I do wonder how you got there, sure.”
“Uh”—she breathed uneasily—“well, er, I was born here, grew up here.” She skipped over high school so she didn’t have to mention Juliet, and went on, “I got my degree at Westfall College, just up the road—”
“Oh, yeah,” Graham cut in, “I know the place. I’m from Ostey, originally. That’s near there.”
“Right! We used to do some serious drinking in—” Emmie winced. “I probably shouldn’t have told you that.”
He shrugged. “We’ve all got our vices.” Ain’t that the truth, Emmie thought. As he directed her back into the library, he asked, “What about family? Brothers? Sisters?”
“Nope, I’m an only,” she replied. “My dad lives here in town. My mom . . . passed last year.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“That’s about it. Pretty average, really.”
“Oh, I think that’s the last word I’d use to describe—” Then something started pinging across the room. Graham said, “Excuse me a second,” and crossed to the window seat to pick up his phone.
Hey now. What was that? As he read his text message, Emmie, thoroughly discombobulated by his last comment, retreated to the opposite end of the room, pretending to study the cobwebbed crown molding and the empty, dusty shelves. She leaned on the wall; after that kind of comment, she needed some support to remain standing. A bulge of dried-out plaster gave under her weight.
“Sorry,” Graham said, putting his phone in his pocket and joining her on the other side of the room. “So. What do you think of the place?”
Hang on—care to finish that last thought? she wondered. But he’d apparently moved on, so she just said, “I think it’s great.”
“Now, Emmie Brewster, interior designer, there’s one thing I want to make clear,” he said, crossing his arms in front of him and rocking on his heels. “This is a very important project.”
“Of course,” Emmie said in her best career-mode voice, feeling a little defensive at his lecturing tone.
“What I mean is, it’s very important to me.”
“Okay . . .” So he wants to impress the new owners. Who doesn’t? “Er, who are the clients, by the way?”
He cocked an eyebrow and replied with the ghost of a smile, “Me.”
“What?”
“This is my house. I bought it.”
“Wow.” After a pause, she added, “Good thing I didn’t make any rude comments about the crazy guy who bought this tumble-down rattrap.”
“Good thing. And you know what this means, don’t you? Now you have to be nice to me.”
She smirked at him, realizing that they were both recalling Saturday night’s conversation in the shadowed back room of Juliet’s new shop. Then, in all seriousness, she said, “It’s a great place, Graham. Really.”
“It is, isn’t it? And . . . I want it to be done right. I want it to be perfect. Not that you won’t do your best—I know you will. But I just want to make sure you understand that I’m doing this for someone who’s very important to me.”
Emmie stiffened. She could fill in the blanks there. Juliet? When the house was ready, was she going to leave her husband and move in here with Graham? That would explain why her McMansion didn’t look lived in, wasn’t decorated: She wasn’t planning on staying all that long. So this was going to be Juliet’s perfect house, with Juliet’s breathtaking sunny bedroom, and even a lady’s maid if Juliet wished it.
But it didn’t matter. This was Emmie’s job. She would just have to forget that she was doing it for Juliet’s benefit. So she took a breath and looked at the handsome man before her—the man she had never had a chance with, because when they met he had already been dreaming of feathering this majestic nest for another woman. “Absolutely,” she said. “You can count on me. I will make this place . . . beautiful. Perfect.” For emphasis, she slapped her hand on the wall next to her.
And suddenly, with a muted whoosh, the entire expanse of plaster detached itself from the lath, and the room was filled with a cloud of blinding, choking plaster dust.
Book Review: This Could Have Been Our Song! by Danielle-Claude …
I received a copy of This Could Have Been Our Song! by Danielle-Claude Ngontang Mba in exchange for an honest review.
The book begins with Lucia Mpobo-Riddell, who could have been a dancer like the rest of women of her family but instead of going down that path, she chose to pursue music. In the same sentiment, Marcus Grant could have been a doctor like the rest of his family but chose music instead too. Lucia falls for Marcus on the night of her birthday and together they create a series of “shoulda, coulda, woulda” that propels them into their future. After Marcus declines to reveal the real reason for being in Toronto that one fateful night, the duo now have to deal with the consequences, and boy are they major. This then creates a major tug of war in their lives and things get complicated. Will their relationship be able to survive?
When I first received a copy of this book and read the synopsis, it sounded like there would be so much going on that I wouldn’t be able to wrap my head around it all. But, luckily Danielle does a really good job at pacing throughout the book so that the reader is not overwhelmed with all of the activity that goes on. Although I am not really into singing or dancing, I really enjoyed the descriptions and that aspect of the book. I also really enjoyed the relationship and the dynamic between Lucia and Marcus. Now, if only they could figure out a way to make their lives a little less stressful! Overall though, this book is enjoyable and a good read.
Rating: 4 stars
