On Tour: Chronicle of the Mound Builders by Elle Marie
Elle will be on tour May 20-27 with her novel Chronicle of the Mound Builders Archaeologist Dr. Angela Hunter discovers an ancient codex at a…
Elle will be on tour May 20-27 with her novel Chronicle of the Mound Builders Archaeologist Dr. Angela Hunter discovers an ancient codex at a…
Reviewer: Kate I received a copy of Love Me Anyway by Tiffany Hawk in exchange for an honest review. Summary: When twenty-three-year-old Emily Crane’s marriage…
I received a copy of The Life List by Chrissy Anderson in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
The Life List, part I of The List Trilogy, is the ultimate chick lit novel and most of the story is true. Chrissy Anderson, a twenty-eight year old fashion executive, created a seven-point life list at the age of sixteen and she’s been steadily checking off the boxes and mocking the style and life choices of everyone around her ever since. Her life begins to run amuck when she unexpectedly meets a much younger, Leo, who makes her question her “perfect life.”
Chrissy’s lifelong friendships and her marriage are put to the test as she tries to sort out her feelings for Leo. With the help of her brassy, no-nonsense therapist, Dr. Maria, Chrissy learns more about herself than she anticipates. But, it isn’t until the untimely death of her best friend that Chrissy is catapulted into long overdue authenticity and scrambles to correct the mistakes of her past….trying to figure out if it’s Kurt, Leo or both that she has to get rid of to make everything right.
Women of all kinds–twenty-somethings, housewives and superwomen wanna-bes–will all be able to relate to the pressure of constructing the ideal life, only to fall short. Not everyone will agree with Chrissy Anderson’s decisions, but all will pause as they follow along on her journey to ask, “What would I do if I were her?”
Review:
Whew. What a book. When you read this (not if, when) be prepared to be entertained, to learn, to question, to laugh, to cry. This book was hard to put down from the first page, and even though I think it was a little on the long side, it was worth ever moment. I finished this book last week and I’m still talking to people about it. The characters are still sticking with me, and I’m even still questioning some of life choices after reading this very thought-provoking novel. I’m not sure I can really list all the reasons why I loved this book so much. There was drama and heartbreak and betrayal and friendships and …. truth. The emotions are raw, the storyline is not pretty at times, and there is some deep stuff to be uncovered throughout the chapters. I am so excited that this is a trilogy, and after begging Anderson for the second novel, I am happy to say The Unexpected List is now on my Kindle. Truly not one to miss.
5 stars
Denise Grover Swank is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and After Math
Summary:
Scarlett Goodwin’s world is divided into Before and After.
Before she agreed to tutor Tucker Price, college junior Scarlett was introvert, struggling with her social anxiety disorder and determined to not end up living in a trailer park like her mother and her younger sister. A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend, Caroline.
After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor him. Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact, let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.
But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos. Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in Tucker’s aftermath?
Review:
Denise Grover Swank became a favorite author of mine from the first book I read by her, Twenty-Eight and Half Wishes. I highly recommend all of her books, and if you haven’t read anything from her yet – you are missing out! While After Math wasn’t a favorite of mine, it was still a good book. The writing is flawless as usual, the characters have depth and keep the story interesting, and it just feels unique. I love that Scarlett was a math major, and Tucker’s back story was also interesting to read about. While it is a good girl falls for bad boy type of plot, there’s just something about her books that makes me feel like I’m reading about a subject for the first time. One to check out!
4 stars
Lori Verni-Fogarsi is now on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Unexpecting!
Summary:
Shelley and David are a couple of almost-empty-nesters preparing to embark on the next stage of their life. They’ve just ordered white furniture and are planning the vacation they’ve waited their entire lives to take.
Their lives are catapulted in a completely different direction when Alexandra, seventeen and pregnant, shows up on their doorstep and announces that she’s the daughter they never knew they had! Their life becomes filled with dilemmas as they add not only another child, but also a baby to a household that was just about to become serene.
Shelley feels like she no longer fits in anywhere and to top it off, having two teenaged girls suddenly plunged into being sisters and school mates is not exactly warm and fuzzy. When Alexandra’s behavior becomes erratic, the couple is faced with even tougher decisions to make.
Hold on for an emotional yet witty ride as you join this family of characters in a story of love, loyalty, heartbreak, and humor that will stay with you long after you turn the last page!
Review:
Wow, what a read. I adore books where I have pretty much zero in common with the main character but can wind up being best friends with her. I have also read Momnesia, which introduces us to Shelly, and I highly recommend both these novels. I actually ended up enjoying Unexpecting even more, not always a common occurrence with sequels, but this was just so hard to put down. I got emotional a few times throughout, I was surprised at times, shocked, dismayed, happy, confused…whew! But I loved every minute of it, and this is definitely worthy of a 5 star review!
5 stars
Title: Tales from the Laundry Pile
Author: Kathleen Kole
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Claire Jamieson has moved back home to Boxwood Hills… And, she’s not alone. Trailing behind her overworked laundry basket is her husband and their energetic twin boys. Claire had always thought that once she’d left the nest, she’d never return. Now that she has, she’s wondering what type of bird that makes her… Cuckoo? When she has a moment to pause and catch her breath, she’ll let you know.
girlfriendsTitle: When Girlfriends Chase Dreams
Author: Savannah Page
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: A novel about chasing dreams, for better or worse, and living your love story.
Claire Linley is finally a bride! After nearly ten years with her college freshman sweetheart, Claire is going to become Mrs. Conner Whitley. She’s got her bridal magazines, is the biggest Martha Stewart fan, and subscribes to all the major wedding blogs. She’s been dreaming of this moment for years! How could planning her dream wedding be anything but perfect?
The easy-going and bubbly type, Claire will obviously have a blast planning, and with her fantastic group of girlfriends-made-bridesmaids she just can’t go wrong. Whether it’s wedding gown shopping, makeup trials, or cake-tasting, Claire’s friends are there in a pinch.
But how big does the pinch get? All Claire wants to do is get married, but at every turn something seems to go awry and she’s starting to lose it. How is a girl supposed to remain cool and collected when the pricy dream wedding planner isn’t turning out to be so dreamy? When DIY projects and the perfect venue are going up in smoke? How is Claire supposed to marry Conner when the special day that’s supposed to join them together, forever, is slowly tearing them apart?
This is the charming story about how sometimes the biggest events in life are defined by the smallest acts of kindness and love. It’s a love story about dreaming large, loving deeply, and, in the end, truly having the happiest day of your life, no matter what happens (or doesn’t). About what happens when girlfriends chase dreams.
Title: Love Rehab
Author: Jo Piazza
Received: From Jo Piazza
Synopsis: For anyone who has ever overdosed on love—or planned the wedding before the second date—Jo Piazza’s dazzling debut novel is a must-read
Cyber-stalking, drive-bys, drunken text messaging, creating fake email accounts—you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to love.
Sophie isn’t dealing with her breakup well. Dumped by her boyfriend, Eric, for his sexting, D-cupped, young Floozy McSecretary, Sophie leaves Manhattan and lands back in her hometown, crushed and pajama-clad, blaming herself and begging her ex for a second chance.
But when her best friend, Annie, gets in trouble for driving drunk and is forced to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, something clicks in Sophie’s strung-out mind. Women need love rehab, she realizes, to help fix the craziness that comes along with falling for someone.
If you start it, they will come. When she opens up her home to the obsessed and lovelorn, Sophie finds a way to help women out there who have overdosed on the wrong men—and she saves herself in the process.
Love is a drug and the only things that can save us are the steps, rules, and one another. Step one: Admit you have a problem, and keep the hell away from Facebook.
I received a copy of Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Having grown up on the quiet island of Guernsey, Betty Dean can’t wait to start her new life in London. On a mission to find Clara Pickle – the mysterious beneficiary in her grandmother’s will – she arrives in grungy, 1990s Soho, ready for whatever life has to throw at her. Or so she thinks…
In 1920s bohemian London, Arlette – Betty’s grandmother – is starting her new life in a time of post-war change. Beautiful and charismatic, Arlette is soon drawn into the hedonistic world of the Bright Young People. But less than two years later, tragedy strikes and she flees back to Guernsey for the rest of her life.
As Betty searches for Clara, she is taken on a journey through Arlette’s extraordinary time in London, uncovering a tale of love, loss and heartbreak. Will the secrets of Arlette’s past help Betty on her path to happiness?
Review:
There was a lot I liked about this book, and just little that I didn’t so much love. The mystery aspect – who is this Clara Pickle, how does she tie in with Arlette, will Betty be able to find her? – was a lot of fun to read about. I’m also a sucker for books that flip back and forth between past and present, and my favorite era happens to be the ‘20’s, so I of course was quite happy with that! Betty also has some interesting characters enter her life while she is on the search for Clara, and they made a nice (and sometimes comical) addition to the story. I became entranced near the end of the book when you realized all the answers were going to be revealed, but I was also a little let-down towards the end. We follow Betty through her quest, but then when a huge chunk of the Arlette’s past is found out, we don’t get to see it through Betty’s eye. Someone else tells her and the chapter cuts away and we miss Betty’s reaction, which is something I was really looking forward to. It was almost anti-climatic in a way. But overall, I thought this book was really charming, and I would recommend.
4 stars
Karen Frankola is on tour now with Appetites and CLP Blog Tours. The novel follows the lives of Sarah and Max, two sisters leading very dysfunctional lives. Each are struggling with their own addiction – Sarah is a binge eater who is overweight, and Max is an alcoholic that can’t say to drinking or drugs. When Sarah hears from Harry, an ex-fiancé , she decides it’s time to change her life – and she needs to take drastic measures. The sisters sign an agreement stating Sarah will live in Max’s basement and follow a diet plan of delivered meals. But there’s more – Sarah will be locked in the basement and not allowed out for months, forcing her to stick with the diet plan and not binge eat. But Max’s drinking causes her to forget about Sarah and Sarah figures a way out of the basement. Not only does Sarah slip a few times when she is out on her own, but she also forms an obsession with Max’s on and off boyfriend. The sister’s relationship, already rocky, only worsens with their new living situation. Will Sarah and Max be able to get the help they need to live a healthy lifestyle?
This was a highly interesting to read. To be able to get into the mind of not only an over-eater but an alcoholic made me learn a lot about the diseases and how truly awful they can be. The dynamic between Sarah and Max was fascinating. Sometimes I truly wondered if they would come to blows, but in the next moment they seemed to genuinely care for one other. I think Frankola captured a real picture of sisterhood and how one can know exactly which buttons to push to get results, when you’ve gone too far, and how you know that no matter what, your sister will always be by your side. I will say this book is not for everyone, with strong language, drug use, and a lot of graphic sex scenes, but I thought it was a great read. This was a very well-written and thought-provoking novel, and I highly recommend.
4.5 stars
I received a copy of The Witch of Little Italy by Suzanne Palmieri in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
In Suzanne Palmieri’s charming debut, The Witch of Little Italy, you will be bewitched by the Amore women. When young Eleanor Amore finds herself pregnant, she returns home to her estranged family in the Bronx, called by “The Sight” they share now growing strong within her. She has only been back once before when she was ten years old during a wonder-filled summer of sun-drenched beaches, laughter and cartwheels. But everyone remembers that summer except her. Eleanor can’t remember anything from before she left the house on her last day there. With her past now coming back to her in flashes, she becomes obsessed with recapturing those memories. Aided by her childhood sweetheart, she learns the secrets still haunting her magical family, secrets buried so deep they no longer know how they began. And, in the process, unlocks a mystery over fifty years old—The Day the Amores Died—and reveals, once and for all, a truth that will either heal or shatter the Amore clan.
Review:
Ooh, a good magic story – right up my alley! I’ll admit that it took me a few chapters to ease into the Amore women and their history, but just short of halfway through the book I really started to become hooked. The mystery aspect of the Day the Amores Died was interesting, and a bit of a heartbreak to read about once it was finally time for that to be revealed. Sometimes I felt that the scenes were a bit over my head and I struggled to connect, but overall this was a really fun story filled with shaky family dynamics, the bond between mother and daughter, and the power of magic. An intriguing debut from Palmieri¸ and I hope to read more from her!
4 stars