Book Review: In the Mirror by Kaira Rouda
Reviewer: Samantha I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Summary: What choices would you make if you knew you…
In My Mailbox: Week of March 31
Title: Unwell
Author: Marie Chow
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: She’s married to a wonderful man, pregnant with a healthy child, and knows there’s so much she should be thankful for, and yet–
She’s not ready for motherhood.
She’s not ready to be a wife.
She’s not ready for the realities that have trapped her.
To pass the time, fill the void, and in hopes that someone may eventually understand, she begins a letter to her unborn daughter. In it she tells, unflinchingly, her life story that bring her to this moment. She explains what she hasn’t told anyone else: not only who she is, but who she isn’t.
Title: On Grace
Author: Susie Orman Schnall
Received: Spark Points Studio
Synopsis: Meet Grace, who is actually excited about turning 40 in a few months, that is, until her job, marriage, and personal life take a dizzying downhill spiral. Can she recover from the most devastating time in her life, right before it’s supposed to be one of the best? Fans of Emily Giffin will love Susie Orman Schnall’s debut, which is all about rediscovering yourself–with grace–well after you think it’s even possible anymore. On Grace deals with themes such as divorce, infidelity, re-entering the workforce after children, breast cancer, and of course, turning 40. This novel is sure to hit a chord with many women readers.
Title: In the Mirror
Author: Kaira Rouda
Received: Kaira Rouda
Synopsis: What choices would you make if you knew you may die soon?
From the multi award-winning, best-selling author of four books, including Here, Home, Hope, a gripping and heart wrenching novel about a young mother who has it all. The only problem is she may be dying.
In her previous works including All the Difference, Rouda’s characters “sparkle with humor and heart,” and the stories are “told with honest insight and humor” (Booklist). “Inspirational and engaging” (ForeWord), these are the novels you’ll turn to for strong female characters and an “engaging read” (Kirkus).
In the Mirror is the story of Jennifer Benson, a woman who seems to have it all. Diagnosed with cancer, she enters an experimental treatment facility to tackle her disease the same way she tackled her life – head on. But while she’s busy fighting for a cure, running her business, planning a party, staying connected with her kids, and trying to keep her sanity, she ignores her own intuition and warnings from others and reignites an old relationship best left behind.
If you knew you might die, what choices would you make? How would it affect your marriage? How would you live each day? And how would you say no to the one who got away?
Title: Here For the Cake
Author: Emily Poule
Received: Emily Poule
Synopsis: “Something should happen: a thunderbolt should erupt, a car should crash, a bell should ring. There should be a soundtrack—some horrible, frightening sound to accompany the news of your ex-boyfriend marrying one of your best friends from high school. Especially when you’re still in love with him.”
No, of course she wasn’t going. Are you insane? For 29-year-old academic Mina Joseph, going to Ella Hutchinson’s destination wedding would be the ultimate act of lunacy. It would be much safer to stay in her shitty studio in Boston so she could stalk the Facebook pages of the bride, groom, and every other guest in attendance before falling asleep in a box of tears and Wheat Thins.
But Luke’s best man, the insufferably charming Benjamin Fogarty, has different plans for Mina. Not only is Ben desperate to break up the mismatched couple before they say their “I do’s,” he is convinced that Luke is still in love with Mina (though he can’t figure out why). So, Ben offers Mina $2400 and a plane ticket to come out of hiding and seduce the groom.
Armed with a new wardrobe, devious friends, and copious amounts of tequila, Mina has five days to rekindle her love with Luke, expose Ella for the certifiable psychopath that she is, and at all costs, avoid having sex with the best man, regardless of how hot it could be.
Title: The Art of Floating
Author: Kristin Bair O’Keeffe
Received: Penguin
Synopsis: At a time when nothing seems real,
it takes something truly unusual to put your life into focus.
When her beloved husband Jackson disappeared without a trace, popular novelist Sia Dane stopped writing, closed down her house, stuffed her heart into a cage, and started floating. It wasn’t the normal response to heartache, but Sia rarely did things the normal way.
Exactly one year, one month, and six days after Jackson’s disappearance, Sia discovers a mysterious man on the beach. He’s mute, unresponsive, and looks as if he has just walked out of the sea. It’s the sort of situation Jackson would have solved with a simple call to the police. But Jackson is gone.
As unreal as he seems, Sia is determined to help this man. Perhaps she can return him to his place in the world—to whoever lost him and loves him. Perhaps she can answer their questions the way no one could answer hers.
But as her friends and family help her winnow her way to the truth, Sia comes to realize that the unfathomable leap between sorrow and healing begins with a single step.
Title: No One Could Have Guessed the Weather
Author: Anne-Marie Casey
Received: Penguin
Synopsis: Sometimes what you want in your twenties isn’t what you want or need in your forties. . . .
When Lucy Lovett’s husband loses his job, she is forced to give up her posh life in London and move their family to a tiny apartment in Manhattan, where her husband has managed to secure a lowly position. Lucy finds herself living in the center of cool and hip. Across from their apartment is a trendy bar called PDT—whenever Lucy passes by, she thinks, Please Don’t Tell anyone I’m a middle-aged woman.
Homesick and resentful at first, Lucy soon embarks on the love affair of her life—no, not with her husband (though they’re both immensely relieved to discover they do love each other for richer or poorer), but with New York City and the three women who befriend her.
There’s Julia, who is basically branded with a Scarlet A when she leaves her husband and kids for a mini nervous breakdown and a room of her own; Christy, a much older man’s trophy wife, who is a bit adrift as only those who live high up in penthouses can be; and disheveled and harried Robyn, constantly compensating for her husband, who can’t seem to make the transition from wunderkind to adult.
Spot-on observant, laugh-out-loud funny, yet laced with kindness through and through, No One Could Have Guessed the Weather is a story of what happens when you grow up and realize the middle part of your story might just be your beginning.
Kaira Rouda Holiday Giveaway
Are you feeling Naughty or Nice? Doesn’t matter, with this giveaway, you could win a prize to make both sides happy! To have a little…
All the Difference by Kaira Rouda
I absolutely loved Here, Home, Hope, the debut novel from Kaira Rouda. She embodied what I hope to do with my writing – inspire other woman. When Kaira asked me to host her at CLP Blog Tours for her second novel, I was blown away. Of course I was ecstatic, and I’m happy to report I highly enjoyed All the Difference. I thought this book was very different from her first, but to me it just showed the talent that Rouda possesses. The story is set in Grandville, and follows multiple characters in this suburban town. The main focus is three women – all with different stories, different problems, different lives – but one has turned to murder to get her way. A suspenseful novel filled with hard-hitting decisions and scenarios, I was flipping frantically to the end to tie everything together.
I will say that at first the amount of characters overwhelmed me. There is a lot going on in this book, different viewpoints, stories, opinions, and in the beginning it was a lot to handle. I was able to adjust after the first few chapters, but that’s just my warning that the beginning my throw you off. Other than getting over that bump, I had a lot of fun with this story. Again, I thought it was a different direction for Rouda, and I loved the suburban mystery aspect. I will admit that I thought I knew which woman was the murderer – and I was totally wrong. I loved the little flashbacks that we got, how all the stories entwined together and I would recommend All the Difference!
[Rating: 4]
On Tour: All the Difference by Kaira Rouda
Kaira will be on tour April 9-23 with her novel All the Difference From the bestselling author of HERE, HOME, HOPE, comes a novel of…
Future Tour: All the Difference by Kaira Rouda
Kaira will be on tour April 1-19 with her novel All the Difference Beautiful Ellenabandons her life as a successful fund-raiser for that of isolated…
Blog Tour Sign Up: All the Difference by Kaira Rouda
From the bestselling author of HERE, HOME, HOPE, comes a novel of suspense and choices, with a nod to the best of Susan Isaacs’s tales of suburban murder.
Once again, everything isn’t what it seems in the wonderful suburb of Grandville. ALL THE DIFFERENCE is the story of three Grandville women whose lives become entangled by the choices they make and how, ultimately, one of them turns to murder to achieve her goals.
Roommates Laura and Angie couldn’t be more different. Laura is a local celebrity, the television anchor who is motivated to move out of small-time media markets and on to the big time, no matter the cost. Meanwhile, Angie, a luckless waitress, spends her time waiting for Mr. Right to save her from temporary jobs and a life spent making bad choices.
On the other side of town, Ellen abandons her life as a successful fundraiser for that of an isolated housewife in the country estate she shares with her husband, whose affairs become increasingly hard to ignore. When the city’s gossip columnist, Maddie, and restaurant reviewer, Dixon, become involved in the story, the unlikely duo stir up more than they intended. But will anyone be able to stop the next murder?
With her signature mix of compassion and wit, Kaira Rouda once again takes readers on an entertaining journey into the heart of women’s lives in suburbia, this time with a dose of suspense.
“A murder mystery that kept me guessing until the end, with lovable characters who made me laugh and cry. Kaira Rouda has done it again.” – Melissa Foster, bestselling author of Come Back to Me and Chasing Amanda
“There’s a reason why Kaira Rouda has racked up so many awards for her work—it’s called talent! In All the Difference, she demonstrates her versatility, her knack for creating indelible characters, and her gift for keeping readers thoroughly entertained!”—Bonnie Trachtenberg, bestselling author of Wedlocked: A Novel
“Reading Kaira Rouda is like getting together with one of your best friends – fun, fast and full of great advice! – Claire Cook, bestselling author of Must Love Dogs and Best Staged Plans
Author Profile: Kaira Rouda
Author Name: Kaira Rouda
Website: http://www.kairarouda.com/
Bio: Due to the career ladder of her professor father, Kaira was born in Chicago (Northwestern), moved to L.A. (USC), then to Austin (University of Texas), Boston (Harvard University) and finally Columbus (The Ohio State University) where Kaira, her mom and her siblings put their collective feet down and grew roots. Kaira spent the remainder her childhood in Columbus, and following graduation from Vanderbilt University, returned to spend another 20-plus years in Central Ohio in the marketing and publishing fields. She believes she has written just about everything: for public relations and advertising clients, including copy for electronics manuals (yawn), press releases for dog ice cream and hamburgers, carpet cleaning television and radio spots, to real estate websites and more; for business newspapers, regional and national magazines and blogs; for countless charities near and dear to her heart; a business book for women entrepreneurs; and now, finally, she is writing what she dreamed of writing since fourth grade: novels of her own. Here, Home, Hope is the first of several novels, all set in the fictional suburb of Grandville, that will be published. Kaira is ecstatic her dreams are coming true.
Kaira is a philanthropist who started Central Ohio’s first homeless shelter for families in the early 1990s, served two terms on the board of the MidOhio Food Bank, the YWCA, The Wexner Center for the Arts and numerous other charities, with a particular interest in empowering women and girls. The creator of the Real Living Real Estate brand — one of the fastest growing in the country — Kaira has earned numerous awards in business. For more on her career, please visit RealYouIncorporated.com.
Two years ago — of course not following her oldest child who had picked a college there — Kaira and her husband and four kids moved to Southern California where she is busy writing, volunteering, and growing new roots
Titles: Here, Home, Hope
See my review of Here, Home, Hope
Visit Kaira’s Blog!
Bio Retrieved from kairarouda.com
Author Name: Kaira Rouda
Website: http://www.kairarouda.com/
Bio: Due to the career ladder of her professor father, Kaira was born in Chicago (Northwestern), moved to L.A. (USC), then to Austin (University of Texas), Boston (Harvard University) and finally Columbus (The Ohio State University) where Kaira, her mom and her siblings put their collective feet down and grew roots. Kaira spent the remainder her childhood in Columbus, and following graduation from Vanderbilt University, returned to spend another 20-plus years in Central Ohio in the marketing and publishing fields. She believes she has written just about everything: for public relations and advertising clients, including copy for electronics manuals (yawn), press releases for dog ice cream and hamburgers, carpet cleaning television and radio spots, to real estate websites and more; for business newspapers, regional and national magazines and blogs; for countless charities near and dear to her heart; a business book for women entrepreneurs; and now, finally, she is writing what she dreamed of writing since fourth grade: novels of her own. Here, Home, Hope is the first of several novels, all set in the fictional suburb of Grandville, that will be published. Kaira is ecstatic her dreams are coming true.
Kaira is a philanthropist who started Central Ohio’s first homeless shelter for families in the early 1990s, served two terms on the board of the MidOhio Food Bank, the YWCA, The Wexner Center for the Arts and numerous other charities, with a particular interest in empowering women and girls. The creator of the Real Living Real Estate brand — one of the fastest growing in the country — Kaira has earned numerous awards in business. For more on her career, please visit RealYouIncorporated.com.
Two years ago — of course not following her oldest child who had picked a college there — Kaira and her husband and four kids moved to Southern California where she is busy writing, volunteering, and growing new roots
Titles: Here, Home, Hope
See my review of Here, Home, Hope
Visit Kaira’s Blog!
Bio Retrieved from kairarouda.com
Here Home Hope by Kaira Rouda
Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda is a five star worthy read! I was in love with this novel, from the first page and the hilarious dentist office scene, to the last page where I felt I was left with life lessons, and all the scenes in between. The story centers around Kelly Mills Johnson, a suburban wife who has become bored as her fortieth birthday nears. Her husband, a successful and supportive attorney, has a thriving career and love for golf, and her two young sons are active and away at camp for the summer. This leaves Kelly drumming her fingers, trying to figure out how to overcome her midlife crisis. Her two best friends appear perfect to an outsider- wealthy husbands, interesting careers, and Kelly decides to try to be more like them. She decides to act on her passion for decorating, but before she can even get started, life intervenes with the appearance of her friend’s anorexic daughter. And an affair that shakes the neighborhood. And a friendship that is on the rocks. Kelly tries to tackle many subjects- her start up business, her family, her friends and their problems, and by doing so, realizes what the important things in life are.
I absolutely adored Here, Home, Hope. What I found interesting is that I completely connected with Kelly, even though I am nothing like her being in my twenties, not married and have no children. But I think that shows the strength of a great writer and character that they create- anyone can relate to them, no matter how far off they are from your real life. And I loved that Kelly’s husband was one of the good guys. I will admit that I was almost waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for him to be having an affair because that is often how the story goes these days, but he was faithful and supportive through it all. The Things to Change List that Kelly makes along the way was also really inspiring. I thought of a few changes that I could make myself, and I think readers will take a lot away from that. But what really got me with this novel is how empowering it was to read as a women. Kaira Rouda says on her website that she has a particular interest in empowering women and children, it showed through her writing. I closed her first novel feeling like I could do anything, and that is special. Here, Home, Hope is only the first in a series that center around Grandville, the fictional town where Kelly Mills Johnson and friends reside, and I know the others will all be must reads for me.
[Rating: 5]
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