On Tour: The Blasphemy Box by Mandy Behbehani
Mandy will be on tour June 10-July 1 with her novel The Blasphemy Box “You know that nightmare you’ve always had? The one where you…
Book Review: The Way Back to Happiness by Elizabeth Bass
I received a copy of The Way Back to Happiness by Elizabeth Bass in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
From the acclaimed author of Miss You Most of All comes a heartfelt, wonderfully affirming novel of sisterhood, healing, and new beginnings.
No one could blame Bev Putterman for becoming estranged from her sister. No one but Bev, anyway. Growing up, Diana was difficult and selfish yet always their mother’s favorite. And then came the betrayal that took away the future Bev dreamed of.
Yet if Diana caused problems while alive, her death leaves Bev in a maelstrom of remorse. She longs to provide a stable home for Diana’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Alabama. But between her commitment-phobic boyfriend and her precarious teaching position, Bev’s life is already in upheaval without an unruly teenager around.
All Alabama knows about Aunt Bev is what her mother told her–and none of it was good. They clash about money, clothes, boys, and especially about Diana. In desperation, Alabama sets out to find her late father’s family. Instead she learns of the complicated history between her mother and aunt, how guilt can shut down a life–and most important, how love and forgiveness can open a door and make us whole again. . .
Review:
I have also reviewed Wherever Grace is Needed from Elizabeth Bass and absolutely adored the book, so it was no surprise that it took me just about a day to get The Way Back to Happiness read. The characters she creates easily transports readers to their world, and won’t let you back out until well after you’ve turned the last page. The relationships felt very realistic, especially the one between Bev and Alabama. There are a lot of tough situations in this story and I shed a few tears, but it was a wonderful read and one I recommend. I hope to read more from this author.
CLP Blog Tours Book Review: Still Life in Brunswick Stew …
Larissa Reinhart is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Still Life in Brunswick Stew
Summary:
Cherry Tucker’s in a stew. Art commissions dried up after her nemesis became president of the County Arts Council. Desperate and broke, Cherry and her friend, Eloise, spend a sultry summer weekend hawking their art at the Sidewinder Annual Brunswick Stew Cook-Off. When a bad case of food poisoning breaks out and Eloise dies, the police brush off her death as accidental. However, Cherry suspects someone spiked the stew and killed her friend. As Cherry calls on cook-off competitors, bitter rivals, and crooked judges, the police get steamed while the killer prepares to cook Cherry’s goose.
Review:
What a fun read! The only disappointment I had with this book is that I hadn’t yet read first one – not that hindered my experience – but I loved Cherry from the first page and know I now I need to get my hands on Portrait of a Dead Guy, the first in this series. This novel is fun, fast-paced, suspenseful, and just an all-around good time. Even though it is the second in a series, I never felt like I was missing information or was lacking anything, I just jumped right into Cherry’s life and had a blast. I enjoyed the bit of a cliff-hanger between her, Luke, and Todd, and would love to see who she ends up with, because I truly have no idea! I always enjoy a bit of mystery in my reads, and this one should land on your to-read list!
4.5 stars
Author Profile: Trisha Leigh
Author Name: Trisha Leigh
Website: http://trishaleigh.com/
Bio: Raised by a family of ex-farmers and/or almost rock stars from Northeastern Iowa, I’ve always loved to tell stories. After graduating from Texas Christian University with a degree in Film, I began to search for a way to release the voices in my head. IWhen I attempted my first YA novel, which would become Whispers in Autumn, I was hooked. I knew then my heart lay with telling stories about and for young adults, and for anyone who loves to read and recapture those fleeting “first” moments.
My spare time is spent reviewing television and movies, spending time with my large, loud, loving family, reading any book that falls into my hands, and being dragged into the fresh air by my dogs Yoda and Jilly.
Visit Trisha’s tour page!
See my 4 star review for Whispers in Autumn!
Connect with Trisha!
http://www.trishaleigh.com
@trishaleighkc
trishaleighkc.tumblr.com
http://pinterest.com/trishaleighkc/
Facebook
The Last Year – Facebook
Buy the Book!
Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and paperback!
In My Mailbox: Week of June 2
le: Between Friends
Author: Amanda Cowen
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: The only way to have a friend is to be one…especially between the sheets…
When neurotically challenged and unlucky in love Megan Daniels is propositioned by her life-long friend Ben Romano with a coin toss (heads, they sleep together, tails, they don’t) the night before they are about to attend a destination wedding, she drunkenly accepts his challenge. But when Megan wakes up the next morning with a bad hang-over and Ben in her bed, she is more than mortified. It isn’t until the tropical heat begins to ignite emotions Megan never believed or thought she could possibly have, when she starts to question if risking their friendship is the answer to finding true love.
A cute and contemporary debut novel, BETWEEN FRIENDS faces one girl’s struggle between the fine lines of friendship and love and the risk of opening up her heart to the possibility of forever.
pastors wivesTitle: Pastors’ Wives
Author: Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
Received: Penguin Group
Synopsis: Lisa Takeuchi Cullen’s debut novel Pastors’ Wives follows three women whose lives converge and intertwine at a Southern evangelical megachurch. Ruthie follows her Wall Street husband from New York to Magnolia, a suburb of Atlanta, when he hears a calling to serve at a megachurch called Greenleaf. Reeling from the death of her mother, Ruthie suffers a crisis of faith—in God, in her marriage, and in herself. Candace is Greenleaf’s “First Lady,” a force of nature who’ll stop at nothing to protect her church and her superstar husband. Ginger, married to Candace’s son, struggles to play dutiful wife and mother while burying her calamitous past. All their roads collide in one chaotic event that exposes their true selves. Inspired by Cullen’s reporting as a staff writer for Time magazine, Pastors’ Wives is a dramatic portrayal of the private lives of pastors’ wives, caught between the demands of faith, marriage, duty, and love.
love storyTitle: The Hypnotist’s Love Story
Author: Liane Moriarty
Received: Penguin Group
Synopsis: Ellen O’Farrell has grown tired of the lack of respect her profession is afforded by others—especially her critical physician mother. She is proud to be a hypnotherapist and has found her niche. Unfortunately, she has not been as lucky in love. That is, until she meets Patrick Scott. A handsome young widower she met through an online dating service, Patrick seems too good to be true. So when he one day announces that he has something to tell her, Ellen braces for the worst. His confession: he is being stalked by a former girlfriend. That’s okay, Ellen assures him, and inwardly she has to admit that she finds the situation kind of intriguing. Thrilling, even.
Ellen would love to learn everything she can about the woman—Saskia—but she refrains from pumping Patrick for details because it clearly upsets him. Indeed, Ellen would love to get inside this woman’s head. What she doesn’t realize is that she already knows her. The obsessed Saskia, under an assumed name, has become one of Ellen’s hypnotherapy clients intent on getting as close as possible to her perceived rival.
As Ellen and Patrick grow deeper in love, Saskia grows even more fixated on her former lover. What Patrick failed to see is Saskia’s deep attachment to his young son, Jack, whom she nurtured in the wake of his mother’s death. Meanwhile, Ellen gets some news that could forever change her life and could either solidify or jeopardize her relationship with Patrick. Could Saskia exploit this new development to further her own calculated motives?
Future Tour: Geoducks Are for Lovers by Daisy Prescott
Daisy will be on tour June 10-17 with her contemporary romance/women’s fiction novel Geoducks Are for Lovers Food writer Maggie Marrion is just getting back…
Book Review: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
I received a copy of Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Orphan Train is a gripping story of friendship and second chances from Christina Baker Kline, author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be.
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse…
As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.
Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are.
Review:
I have been finding myself really enjoying stories that switch from past to present tense, and I’m glad my shelves are filling with them! I loved going back and learning about Vivian’s life in the early 1900’s, though of course I was also quite sad. She didn’t have a lucky situation when she was on the orphan train, and was bounced through a handful of families until she finally landed somewhere where she felt safe. While I still enjoyed Molly’s story and was entertained at how her life was similar to Vivian’s, it was really the older woman that took the cake for me. It was breathtaking at times to read how she survived not only the journey to America, becoming an orphan, traveling in the train with dozens of other orphaned children, but then finally the struggles she had with the families who took her in. The ending was so wonderful because readers get so much closure, not just for Vivian, but for other supporting characters as well. This is such a touching read, and a new favorite of mine for the year.
5 stars
Blog Tour Sign Up: Riverstar by Tess Thompson
After ending an affair with a married movie producer, feisty Hollywood makeup artist Bella Webber finds herself back in the quaint Oregon town of River Valley, the location of a famous director’s latest film. Despite trying to distract herself with work, Bella is unnerved by the proximity of Benjamin Fleck – a man who once so expertly made love to her she’d temporarily forgotten everything painful about her life. But now Ben sees her as nothing more than a heartbreak waiting to happen.
When an actress is found murdered after she’s seen leaving the restaurant Riversong with Ben, he is accused of the crime and arrested. Convinced of his innocence, the River Valley ‘gang of misfits’ band together to find the real killer, and Bella must face her biggest fear to ensure the truth is revealed.
Romantic, suspenseful, and engaging, bestselling author Tess Thompson’s third novel in the River Valley Collection delivers another tribute to the power of community and the bonds of friendship.
Future Tour: Adventure to Love by Bethany Ramos
Bethany will be on tour August 19-26 with her chick lit novel Adventure to Love In a “Bachelor” meets “Survivor”-style reality TV show, twelve women…
