Thursday, December 26, 2013

Review: Every Day

Every Day by David Levithan

"If you want to live within your own truth, you have to choose to go through the initially painful and ultimately comforting process of finding it."


"A" has no body, and instead wakes up every morning in a different one. There is no predicting which body A will be in except that they are always the age A would have been and always geographically near where the last one was. A has complete control over that body for the day and even has access to all the persons memories allowing for as "normal" of a day as possible. But then, A wakes up as Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend Rhiannon.


The ultimate question remains...Can love conquer all?

Like all of Levithan's novels, Every Day is rich with wisdom and beautifully written prose. It is the type of novel to savor. The language is rich yet completely embraceable to the modern reader. 

Besides just the story of love, this story examines people and their connection to life and to one another. Have you ever tried to talk about someone without using their gender, it's harder than you might imagine. That is how it has been discussing A. You cannot use him or her, he or she. It really changes how gender is viewed. Watching Rhiannon interact with A in different genders, sizes and shapes further examines the different ways we treat people based on what we know about them visually. Also, A examines different lives and how different people see the world. A describes this once to Rhiannon explaining that the color blue looks different through different eyes. Isn't that a wild concept to imagine? But it is true, tastes, smells and sights would be different to everyone.

So much of what we think about a person, how we react to them, how we interact with them is based on the way they present themselves visually. We treat men different than women, the old different than the young, someone professional differently than someone who is sloppy, the fat different than the thin, the ugly different than the beautiful. A even notices the different ways Riannon reacts depending who she is standing next to. She is more affectionate with males she finds attractive than she is with females. She acts intimidated when next to the overly beautiful woman. She is disgusted by the incredibly obese young man.


Over all, this is my favorite book to date and certainly my favorite book for 2013. I highly recommend it for teens and adults alike.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Review: Done Deal


Done Deal by Rene Shultz


If you were to die tomorrow, what would you be remembered for?

For Cissy, she was remembered as a nurturing mother, a compassionate friend, and the woman who saved thousands of lives from her death bed.

What Schultz has done here is created a novel that doesn't only chronicle a woman’s journey through cancer, but shows the value of living a life that makes a difference for others. Cissy, a woman just shy of her fiftieth birthday, finds out she has cancer and the prognosis does not look good. From the first page of the novel we learn that she did not survive. Knowing she is gone altered the way this story is perceived. Because we know this, we see everything she does as her mark she will leave on the world. Based on the background story we learn through other vivid characters, we know Cissy to have touched lives and been cherished throughout her life. Then we watch as she does the unimaginable to leave a better place for all cancer victims who will come after her. She is selfless in her final acts on this earth. This is a quick read with a past paced plot that will leave you regretting that it has to end.

For me, some parts of this novel were especially sad because I have lost family members to cancer. I feel very strongly about any novel that commemorates the lives of people who have struggled whether it is cancer or something else. I would recommend this novel for sure and look forward to more by Ms. Schultz in the future.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Review: Two Boys Kissing


Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan


Every once in a while, a book comes along that is so profoundly beautiful, so emotionally evocative, so special and important that I simply must buy a hardback copy to keep on my shelf. (And the kindle copy to travel everywhere with me in my purse)

 Leviathan wrote such a unique and touching story that I struggle to even find another book to compare it to. The story surrounds two high school aged boys who set out to break the world record for longest kiss. They do so publicly in the lawn outside of their high school. Much preparation must go into this kiss and the rules of the world record must be followed. Their kiss is broadcast via live video feed which slowly gains interest until they become a Internet sensation. The story is not
just about these boys, and in fact, they don't do much but stand there kissing for the majority of the book. Instead, we get a peek into the lives of other gay teenage boys who have been in some way influenced by this kiss through the watching of the live feed or even being able to watch it take place in person.

 The part of the story that is most profound is the choice of narrator. It is narrated in the first person by someone who isn't even part of the story. The ghosts of all the gay men who have died of AIDS tell the story of these two boys and all the boys watching as if they are the fly-on-the-wall observer. Their inability to interact with the characters while delivering touching narrative is the most emotional narration I have ever read. This is a beautiful piece of YA Literary Fiction. Just as the genre suggests, it focuses more on the characters than a fast moving plot. Really, you only see into a little over a day in time. But it is a very monumental day, for sure.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Review: RIP Choices After Death

RIP Choices After Death by Daniel Sherrier

A witty and humerous page turner! This book is not your average ghost story. The story begins when Rip, a paranormal investigator,  meets a clever and blunt ghost named Serissa. She sets the story in action by informing him that he is one of the Seven, something he has never heard of, but that will forever change his life. He must now set out, despite his fear, and kill the dead to prevent them from damaging the living.

This story appeals to a wide audience. I enjoyed it but also couldn't help thinking how perfect it would be for a high school aged reader. Themes such as good-verse-evil and learning to embrace who you are, make this an action packed coming-of-age tale.

It was refreshing to read something this unique centering around the timeless ghost story theme. I could see this turning into a television series one day. Strongly reccomended!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Cover Reveal: Shattered by Fate

Shattered By Fate
Part 2 of Fates Path
By Jacelyn Rye

One heart cannot remember. Another heart cannot forget. Both hearts reach toward something to grasp. For Sarah, it is her past. For Will, it is to bring that past back. The only thing standing squarely in their way — is their future. Each has promised their heart and life to another. But where happiness should be, instead are the dark billowing clouds of a storm of reckoning. The thunder of regret splits a horizon now raining down upon them in shards of shattered promises and unreachable memories.      
     In Book One of this three-part saga, fate seemed it would not be denied, bringing Sarah and Will together in a turbulent world, uniting young hearts for the right reason: love. But — almost as if it has eyes — fate sees to it that no love that is meant to be is allowed to be, without it being tested to the passionate edges of chance.      
     Accidents. Small ones are remembered and retold with a laugh. Useful ones are celebrated.  But shattering ones — those are the ones that slip from the fingers of fate. The kinds that are followed by silence as it roars the sound of life changing. And it is this pounding drone that Sarah and Will — once inseparable — now hear when they listen to their hearts.      
     After her accident, Sarah awakens in a hospital room and into a very different life. Will, accidentally buried by heavy timber when he heroically saves a fellow worker, is also delivered into his own unforeseen, disoriented new life. Destiny’s dust never settles.        
     And nothing is clear when doubts appear. Sarah is betrothed to Adley, while Will is engaged to Margaret, yet both are still connected to each other by an indescribable draw seemingly groping out from the deepest reaches of fate. A fate that deliberately leaves the door of temptation cracked open, giving Will a yearning peek at the naked truth of Sarah, who reaches out with the same tortured passions.  A fate that leaves both to fight the desperate desires of wanting what each knows they cannot have.  A fate that dares them to ask, “What will happen if I finally feel you?”

Did you miss book one: Surrender To Fate? Buy Book One Now!

About Jacelyn Rye 

Jacelyn Rye is many things. She can be as alluring as the love that flows from her pen: pure, honest, simple. But then, like a storm that suddenly appears over the mountain, she can also have you running for shelter where there’s no place to hide. Like life, itself, Jacelyn delivers the hard with the soft, the pain with the joy, the instant with the forever. All of it, for a reason. And it’s there that one can best enter her life.

“I believe in signs, I believe everything happens for a reason,” she’ll tell you. If you know someone like that, you already know a primal piece of Jacelyn — a person who actually listens to the Universe because there, she knows she’ll find more than answers, she’ll find reasons. And those reasons give her insights about nature, and human nature, both of which she invites us to explore with her.

Growing up in the blue sky country of Colorado doesn’t leave an impression, it becomes a lifeblood. For Jacelyn, the clarity of that truth flows through her stories, her characters and her inherent spirituality that somehow knows faith, in the end, triumphs over despair.

Through her storytelling — firmly stimulated by that early country life that taught her to always be prepared when venturing forth — Jacelyn’s uncanny ability to “see” what could happen takes readers into a crystal ball where the future’s many possible outcomes await in a swirl of incandescence, right down to the details of smell, touch, fear, love.

Because life also presents its possibilities in dreams, Jacelyn holds dear that open door. “My dreams mean a lot to me. I listen to them, solve problems in them, learn from them,” she confides. It figures, then, that when you read her stories, you’d best get ready for a trip with an original dream weaver.

And then, there’s serendipity. To know Jacelyn is to accept a dance with chance. She accepted one such chance when she moved from her beloved Colorado to an unknown life awaiting her in Southern California, where she lives today. “I knew another beautiful world was out there.  I was ready for adventure,” she says, with the confidence that proves her faith is more than just words. “I moved from Colorado as soon as I graduated from college, thanks to a great job offer. The night after I received my job offer, I saw a commercial that said, ‘California, find yourself here.’  In that moment, I stopped debating the move and took it as a sign that my adventure would be found in California.”

As Jacelyn does so well, she shares those adventures in her writing. In her first book series, you’ll find Jacelyn’s experiences of this major life change play out in Sarah, who also moves from Colorado to California. “What I’ve seen and felt enable me to write realistically about how a Colorado mountain girl feels about living in California.”

In the quiet mornings, you’ll find Jacelyn savoring her coffee, outside. To her, it’s all about listening, breathing in, appreciating being here for another day. And of course, there’s time spent in the mountains, fishing, wading in creeks with the people she loves. Curiously, this girl who comes from the mile-high mountains, still fears the miles-deep ocean she frequently visits, but only to sink her toes in the hot sand and watch, in awe and respect, the thundering surf.

On any given day, be it in the mountains, at the beach, or on her terrace, Jacelyn is dreaming and writing, her way of sharing something meaningful with those who come to know her.

One thing is for sure, wherever she goes, wherever she’s been, Jacelyn is aware and thankful for the gifts around her. Indeed, although she does not get back to Colorado that often, she’s there in spirit, and in absolute detail, in a moment’s call. “The smells, the sound aspen leaves make when the wind asks them to dance, how tall pines gently sway back and forth against a backdrop of the bluest blue I’ve ever known.” That’s someone who takes it all in, who takes it all with her, and who offers it to everyone who opens her books.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Destroying the Wrong


by Evelyne Stone

Alissa Sullivan has got it made -- a supportive, loving family, a cause she believes in, and her new boyfriend. With her best friend Kat at her side, she was counting the days until the end of high school when they could go away to college together. Then she met Scott, a man who wouldn't touch her but would turn her life upside-down. 
Katherine Horne is perfectly content being in the background. All she wants is to graduate and get out of the town she's grown to loathe. She'd do anything to avoid confrontation but when she finds herself in increasingly humiliating situations, she realizes some things can't be ignored. Especially when it comes to bullying. 
With their carefully planned futures unraveling, Kat and Alissa will come to realize the bond of their friendship will be tested... and might not make it through intact.



This is book 1 in a 3 part series.




About the Author

Evelyne lives in Arizona where she grew up most of her life. She has four children that like to drive her insane on a daily basis. The man in her life also drives her insane but is also very loving and supportive. He’s a keeper! Traveling is her favorite thing to do, even if it’s a short road trip.
Evelyne loves to read many different genres. She always thought about writing and was finally... inspired by her friends to give it a try. Without her great support system, her first book, “Destroying the Wrong,” would have never happened!

 Things you don’t know about Evelyne:
1. Her favorite movie is “So I Married an Axe Murder.”
2. She can sing every song, word-for-word on Adam Lambert’s first album.
3. Monsoon storms and winter drizzles help inspire her writing.
4. Football is her favorite sport even though the Cowboys have not had a good season in a really long time.
5. She loves school and would become a professional college student if it weren’t so expensive.
6. She tries hard to be funny but most of the time is the only one in the room laughing.
7. People watching and giving relationship advice is her favorite past time.
8. What she wants to be when she grows up is still an unanswered question.


Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17982809-destroying-the-wrong
facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Evelyne-Stone/434966173278127?fref=ts

Friday, November 15, 2013

Cover Reveal: The Fallen by Linda Foster

Today is a joint cover reveal of three authors from Glass House Press, PT. McHugh, Linda Foster and Mary Fan.

Ash never thought going to a party could be dangerous. He certainly never thought it would change his life. But when a man with red eyes begins following him – and his sister – he realizes he was wrong. Soon they’re running, leading the man on a desperate chase over icy roads.
When Ash crashes his car, nearly killing his sister, the red-eyed man offers Ash a choice – save his sister, but pay the highest price possible. Bring Grace back to life, at the cost of his own soul.
Suddenly, Ash is facing a choice he never sought. But will he use that choice to save his sister? And if he does … what will it mean for Ash himself?

***


Someone has started a revolution in Heaven, his betrayal and lies tearing the fabric of the angels apart. Things are coming quickly to a head, and before long the angels will find themselves at war … with each other. Friends and allies will turn against each other, each choosing their own side of right and wrong.
If that happens, the world as they know it will end.
It's up to Kali, protector of angels and humans, to stop the treachery before war breaks out and peace is shattered forever. But how far is she willing to go to save the lives of the angels? Will she turn against her own dearest friend to save her world?
And if she does … will anything be left for her to come home to?

***


Join Ash and Kali on their individual adventures as we see what – and who – led them to find each other in Soul Bound, the first book in the Realm of the Claimed.

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Thursday, November 14, 2013

Review: The Commitment

The Commitment
By Dan Savage
I found this book while doing my usual audio book search through the now six libraries I have cards for on my OverDrive media app. Just like the many times before, I selected this book on a whim and just hit download. Since listening to the audio books from the library is free and easy to do, I am willing to take the risk on just about any book that catches my attention. On rare occasions I stumble upon a book like this one, and it instantly soars to the top of my favorite-books-of-all-times list.

This book is about family. Specifically, it is a memoir written by a gay man who recounts his experiences in love, sex, marriage and family. (It even says so right on the cover) Savages writing style is amazing. I was sucked in and hung on every word. Many times I literally laughed out loud like a crazy person and even shouted out repeats of some amazing quotes. This book is quotable in the way that people quote popular movies. So many one liners that are pure literary gold. Some, more inappropriate than others to accidentally yell out while listening to the book in the grocery store, but all equally memorable. (If the nice family who was shopping at Kroger the other day is reading this...I am sorry for my outburst and the interesting conversation you now have to have with your six or so children.)

This book is not only entertaining, hilarious, and heartfelt, but it is also stocked full of amazing advice and inspiration for couples. All couples, homosexual or heterosexual alike. His beautiful way of storytelling captured all the emotion and personality of each and every person in his family and circle of friends. I could literally see each scene as if I were watching it on TV instead of reading it in a book. I laughed and cried several times throughout this story.

Along with a wonderful story, this book is filled with information about the battle for marriage equality as it stood in 2004/2005 in America. It is changed some now in the years since the book was written, but still we as a society have a long way to go. This book is probably the best argument for marriage equality in existence. It is impossible to read this story and not feel the overwhelming urge to fight for this family to be recognized as just that, a family. In fact, this family is doing more things right than the majority of heterosexual families. Same-sex marriage is threatening heterosexual marriages? No way! This one has actually been an encouragement and helpful to me as a newly-married straight woman. And I am sure I am not the only person that has drawn inspiration from this wonderful families story.


Cheers!


Monday, November 11, 2013

Review: The Heavens Rise

The Heavens Rise
By Christopher Rice
To start, I will admit to never having been interested in the horror genre. However, I recently began listening occasionally to Rice's online radio comedy show,  The Dinner Party Show, where he has been advertising his book for months. Still I had no plans to read this novel simply because horror is really NOT my thing (why give myself more reasons to be afraid of the dark?) But I have come to realize that sometimes it's good to read something outside your comfort zone. Plus, the weeks of buildup through the interviews, reviews and other hype (Not to mention that I would feel like an ass hat if I went to his joint book signing with Anne Rice and had no book for him to sign) led me to purchase my copy and begin to read.

I'm glad I did.

For the first 75% of this book there is so much unknown to the reader. We know the source of the power or gift and we know which two characters posses it. (Marshall and Nikki) But there are so many questions! What are the limitations of the power? What happened to Nikki and her family? Are they going to show up? Where is Marshall? What is he going to do next? Are there others with this power? How in the world do you defeat someone who can control minds?  I found myself speculating and was partially correct, but there was so much to the story that was completely unpredictable. I honestly had no idea how the book would end, who would survive, or what the "monster" would become. Just when I thought there were no more surprises, two or three more surfaced!

So how scary is this novel? I would say this novel is more intellectual than terrifying. It is as scary as you imagine it to be because as you read it, you are left to imagine when Marshall (or someone else with this power) will strike next and just how horrific his presence will be. This novel is like none other in the fact that there is seemingly no limit to the evil that can take place because if someone with the power can imagine it, literally any of the other people around him or her can do it.

But this book isn't just about horror. Mixed into this nightmare is love and friendship and, in my opinion, the overall theme of staying true to the people (or in this case also the city) you love no matter what. The last couple pages of chapter 27 is one of the most intimate scenes I've ever read between two people who aren't romantically involved, and to me summed up an overall theme of this beautiful book.
     "You told me no matter who I turned out to be, you would always accept me. You would always love me. Do you remember that day?" 
"...And I'm offering you the same things in return. Always." (Rice, 266) 

It is at that exact moment when you realize that there is hope. That the side for "good" is no longer solitary.  And it is impossible to not read the rest of the novel in one frantic sitting.

Cheers!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Review: The Demarcation of Jack

The Demarcation of Jack

By Dana and Bennett Blakely

This was my latest book that I accepted in exchange for an honest review. I have to say, of all the review copies I have received, this one has to be one of my favorites. 

The premise of this novel is one that is all too common for many people: Marriage Problems. Jack and Jenna are a young married couple who are experiencing a rough patch in their relationship and decide to go on a trip to Jamaica as a way to try to relight the flame. I love vacation novels (where was this book when I needed some good beach reading a few months ago!) This book would go great on your next vacation or even as just a nice little treat for yourself after a busy work day.

This novel is not your typical contemporary romance. While it is honest and deals with realistic struggles plaguing young married couples, it also gives a serious dose of humor, which was refreshing.

What was most meaningful to me as I read this book was not that it followed the typical arc of a contemporary romance, but that it did so while adding a new a variety that I haven't read yet. Many romances come off sounding similar to all the other romances from the same time-period. This was not so with this novel which I certainly would describe as off-beat. 

There is a twist to this story and it is NOT your typical twist. I don't want to tell you what this twist is...why give away the books secrets before you have even started reading? But I will say this...this is a steamy romance novel in which two of the characters know how to keep things interesting all while loving one another genuinely and deeply.


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Blog Tour and Review: Surrender to Fate


Title:   Surrender to Fate (Fate’s Path #1)
Author:  Jacelyn Rye Genre:  
New Adult Romance 18+
Publication Date:  September 17, 2013
Cover Designed By:  Damonza  
Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.


Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords 


My Review

From the moment I began reading, I fell in love with this novel. I casually accepted this novel agreeing to give it a place on my blog simply because it was set in my home state of Colorado. What I didn't expect was to add it to my favorites list.
This novel opens with vivid imagery of the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains that you can see, smell, and feel as Sarah interacts with the forest. Instantly, her love story is presented in her lifelong friend Will. They are innocent in the way first love always is and make promises of forever. Reading their story is like a glimpse into my own memories of my first love.
Then, Sarah is forced to move away.
This wouldn't be so bad in our modern time with easy access to phones and email, but this novel is set in the late thirties and our young lovers must communicate through letters. Letters that may or may not get delivered.
As the time goes on and both feel the other has moved on, they too move on with their lives, creating a whole new set if romantic story lines for our lovers separated by miles. Unlike many novels, Rye builds a world full of characters that are developed and add to the story instead of writing the love story within a bubble. We have Sarah and Wills families, as well as a whole new family in Sarah new home of California.
The book ends abruptly after two major incidents. It then gives you a taste of part two which I have to say, sounds pretty amazing as well thought out. I absolutely cannot wait to read more and find out which romantic scenario wins out.
Rye is a talented author who has engaged all of the senses while making the reader fall in love with her characters as if they were the readers own loved ones. I held my breathe for them, mourned for their loses, laughed at their innocence, and am praying for their well being in the installment yet to come.

Synopsis

Some say fate holds the cards. But what if love deals the hand? No love goes untested. Ever. Indeed, true love is left to prove itself. And that is exactly where fate steps in to play the game.

 For William and Sarah, that game begins with growing up, in the unspoiled mountains of Colorado. In a time and space as clear as the Rocky Mountain skies above, these young souls together learn about life, what matters most, what endures, what doesn’t, and about love. Innocent young love moves ever so surely toward lives they both can picture, lives spent loving each other in a place they know so well and cherish.

 Will and Sarah are ecstatically swept away in the swells of new love. And it is in their rarefied bliss that they make the fragile promise of first love, a promise that fate will soon rock and pound into doubt, guilt, and epiphany.

 Unexpected and unprepared, these young lovers are suddenly torn apart, first by distance, and then by the far greater pressures of temptation that test the very fidelity of their heart-held promise. No longer able to console each other, hold each other, touch each other, they face the inevitable decision: move on to other loves, or cling to the faith that they will someday be together, again.
 Will and Sarah stare down an unknown path, sensing destiny will not wait long before it comes to take them. Wracked with doubt, they wonder if their love was real. Caged by guilt, they both feel tempted by others intent on stealing their hearts.

 Fate plays hardest when love is tested. And Will and Sarah are no exception, letting go of their happy past to embrace hope for an uncharted future. Love plays hardest when fate tests. And so it is, even through their trials of the heart, Will and Sarah never really stop loving each other. Theirs is a love so real and pure that each just wants the other to find happiness, even if it's with another.

 But fate does not surrender so easily. Dealing blow upon blow, both Will and Sarah are each struck by jolting events that take them to the very edge of life, itself.

 Sarah and Will hold tightly to their past, but steadfast promises begin to wane. Life continues, filled with romance, drama, and two souls yearning to understand the challenges brought with coming of age, and learning that fate is ultimately in control. What happens to love when life is on the line? Can they both relinquish control when love is on the line? Will fate even allow them to find out?

Add to Goodreads:


 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18231367-surrender-to-fate?from_search=true

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords 


About the Author

Jacelyn spent her childhood growing up in the mountains of Colorado.  After graduating from college, she moved to Southern California, where she still resides with her husband and two young sons. 





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Sunday, September 8, 2013

New Release: Winning the Bosses Heart

Winning the Bosses Heart by Hayson Manning

Today is the release date for this fun novel! I had the pleasure of reading it ahead of time which was great!

First, if you aren't familiar with this author, you should be. Her characters have a ton of personality. Her heroines are always strong and sassy and certainly not damsels in distress. Her heroes are struggling with their emotions for one reason or another. 

In this novel, you really come to dislike the hero, Mason. I honestly wanted to reach through my kindle and shake him! But, I've met that type of man, one who has been through a very tragic loss, and I have to say Manning wrote him very well. Of course he was a total jerk, he was a man who had faced horrific sadness who was attempting to lock it up and simply move on as if nothing happened. Obviously it turned him robotic. 

I read our heroine, Billie, through a completely different lens. She is a woman who had to grow up fast and be the adult as a child. Then she's attracted to a man who needs some serious emotional help. Therefore, she gets her heart absolutely trampled! Of course she does! She is a woman desperately seeking the stability she never had but she's looking for it from a man who uses keeping himself closed off as a way to not finally breakdown and deal with his loss. 

This book is real, fresh, and simply delightful. It's filled with spunky back and forth banter and clever things that had me literally laughing out loud. The overall theme is healing, which is something we all need very now and then. 

Pick it up today! It's a great late summer read. 

Friday, July 12, 2013

Review: Saltwater Kisses: A Billionare Love Story

Saltwater Kisses: A Billionare Love Story by Krista Lakes
US Link http://www.amazon.com/Saltwater-Kisses-Billionaire-Story-ebook/dp/B00DIM87FC
UK Link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saltwater-Kisses-Billionaire-Story-ebook/dp/B00DIM87FC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373673703&sr=8-1&keywords=salt+water+kisses

This is the second novel by this author and I have to say, I am enjoying her fun little stories about the adventure of falling in love.

This story begins with a small-town girl named Emma goes on a dream vacation to a tropical island...alone. She won the trip calling a radio station during a contest. I was instantly excited because I won a similar vacation on the radio not too long ago. Crazy right? Anyways, so Emma goes on this vacation and somehow ends up in the right place at the right time and assists in a water rescue of a man who had a heart attack while swimming. The other person to help her happens to be a gorgeous single billionaire who she instantly connects with. They spend the rest of her trip together.

But then he goes home and so does she. Emma thinks their fling with Jack is over until fate would intervene once more and she is swept up in a paparazzi nightmare. Jack was that important and the tabloids would love to harass Emma endlessly.

This story is full of "1% chances." She wins the vacation, she gives someone CPR (stayin' alive, stayin' alive.... ah ah ah ah stayin' aliiiiiiiiive) meets a billionaire, ends up whisked away to his pent house. Every few chapters I kept saying "No way!" It was exciting and fresh. I enjoyed having a vacation from the ordinary or a while and reading this book.

My only regret is that I read it when I did, because it would have been the perfect beach reading material for my own trip this fall. Shucks! :)

It also left us on somewhat of a cliff hanger...grrr. BUT, good news, there's a second novel coming out very soon that tells the story of one of the minor characters in Salt Water Kisses. So hopefully we will get to check back in on Jack and Emma.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Review: The Amateur Marriage

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler

My new favorite novel by my longtime favorite author. This is the most beautifully written novel I have ever read in my whole life. Hands down. Anne Tyler is gifted in her ability to poetically tell the stories of ordinary people in normal lives, that don't necessarily have huge climactic moments that leave you on the edge of your seat.

To be honest, nothing monumental happened in this novel, but it was literally a story of two entire lives.

This story follows two people who met and married very young, lived their lives, raising kids, running the families grocery store, losing a kid as a runaway, reconnecting with the estranged daughters child but not the daughter, divorcing, one remarrying, and ultimately ones dying.

Pauline and Michael are my favorite on page couple, and they don't even get their happily ever after. The way Tyler wrote them is simply marvelous. I found myself laughing and crying all in one sentence.

This novel is pure poetry and I couldn't put it down.

Review: Lost in The Forest

Lost in The Forest by Sue Miller

This book surprised me. It was recommended to me based on my recent selections from the library app on my phone. I was impressed. I love how simple and sweet the writing is, truly expressing the beauty of ordinary life.

This book instantly starts with a tragic twist of events, forcing a father to take charge and take in his children temporarily. We start in the fathers point of view, and I am glad we did. He was a good lens in which to introduce this family and their life together.

I was instantly sucked in to the way Miller found the beauty in the ordinary. Then, something unexpected happened.

******SPOILER   DON'T CONTINUE IF YOU DON"T WANT TO KNOW A CRITICAL PLOT POINT*****

So I try not to put in spoilers but this one I just had to include. One of the children that we see first through the lens of the parents, takes center stage part of the way through the novel in a shocking turn of events. She is sucked into a physical affair with an older man, a much, much older man. One of her mother's best friends husbands to be exact.

I read this part very intently, unsure what to think. This was so real, and so sad. I am so glad that a author told this story and did it justice. Too often these stories go untold and they are sad and I think damaging to the teenagers involved. Beautiful job, Sue Miller, tackling a tough topic and shining.

Cheers! 

Review: Kissing The Maid of Honor

Kissing The Maid of Honor by Robin Bielman

I was getting ready to go to a rehearsal dinner when I found this book on a facebook group I am a part of. Now this wedding I was attending was huge, the kind of wedding that most of us think only happens in movies. The rehearsal dinner alone would have cost me a years salary. The groom is my husband's cousin, and his side of the family rented an entire ranch for us to stay at. I had a whole weekend to relax and enjoy it, sitting poolside and staring out at the rolling hills.  On this lovely weekend, I read this fun and perfectly fitting book.

It was a beautiful wedding weekend both on and off the page.

This book was sweet. Oh the troubles of high school crushes gone wrong. Being a woman who married the man that she kissed as a teenager (and it went terribly wrong), I can relate to this character. (This kiss, no joke, was why my now husband and I didn't get together then as opposed to nearly ten years later) I totally related. I loved how authentic this author wrote this fun little scenario.

Sela and Luke are characters that I instantly wanted to root for. I particularly LOVED seeing them take care of one another. To me, there is nothing more beautiful in a relationship that nurturing, and Bielman wrote it beautifully and truthfully.

The only problem is I found myself wanting more. I found myself in a few scenes saying "Wait, that's it? Tell me more! Tell me more!" This book could have been at least fifty to a hundred more pages in length and I would have been satisfied.

However, what she did include in this book was great. Fun and excited especially since I was so lucky to read it while relaxing on a ranch during a big crazy wedding weekend.

I recommend this book for anyone looking for a nice romance novel.

Cheers!

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Review: Just for the Summer

Just for the Summer by Janna Rutland

This fun little romance novel was easy to become invested in. The story was both believable and interesting: a woman who meets face to face with the man who adopted her child. 

The entire novel reminded me of the feeling you get when you are at the top of the roller coaster, ready to make that first decent.  I knew ultimately Dani would have to tell Matt her secret, I just wasn't sure when. As my progress bar on my kindle kept inching towards 100%, I began to get anxious!

With the constant point of view changes between Dani and Matt, it's easy to understand the two's feelings and emotions which to me gave a comfortable "everything's going to work out in the end" feeling. You trust both characters to be good people who will make good choices. 

I particularly enjoyed the way Rutland accurately writes in the child's voice of Sam. This one is hard for people to write in sometimes and have it come off as accurate as she has. It's one thing to hope for a happily ever after for the adult characters you come to love while reading, but it's another all together to hope for one for a child. Sam's character is an instant hit. 

On the subject of voice, I also enjoyed Dani's. I felt she was a very strong and well developed character who was easy to identify with.  

One line that truly stuck with me was: "He wouldn't exist if I had thine through a the pain and grief." I feel this line, as well as several others suggest the theme: everything you go through brings you to where you are today. Another notable theme was that of second chances.  

If you want a sweet love story with a real life conflict that the characters must overcome, this novel is a good one for you. 

In fact, I plan to buy a few more of her novels in the near future. 

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Review: Ladder of Years

Ladder if Years by Anne Tyler

This book was a lot of fun! As usual with AnneTyler it was an overly ordinary story with not big moments of excitement. No more than in any other normal life that is.  

The characters were fresh and fun. I enjoyed all the quirky traits of Tyler's characters. 

This book revolved around one year in the life Delia Grinstead: wife, mother, sister, and daughter in law. 

This year for her is a unique one because at the start of the novel her and her family visit the beach for their annual vacation. Then, quite suddenly, Delia decides to leave her family and impulsively and with no plan, hitch a ride out of town and begin her life again. 

That's all. Just simply rent an app attempt, buy a few new dresses and get a job. 

The novel tells of her day to day life as her new self and her journey back home. 

So ordinary yet so unique and interesting.

She is by far one of my favorite authors. 

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Review: Wife in Name Only

Wife in Name Only by Hayson Manning

I have just finished this book a few hours ago and instead of writing the review immediately I instead chose to listen to the entire soundtrack to Mamma Mia. Maybe twice.

Thank you Manning for reminding me just how much I adore the music of ABBA.

Anyways. Book review time.

First of all these characters are BOLD. I had no idea anyone could think so sexually until I got to know these characters.

The whole basis for the story is that Zoe and Rory were married and happy until they gradually drafted apart as Rory became more and more engulfed in his work. It's a classic husband and wife problem: man measures his relationship success with how much he can provide and how much career success he has while the wife bases her relationship success on their quality time.

So here they are in a failed marriage where she has run off to an island somewhere and started a honeymoon resort. He's stayed in the big city waiting for her to come home because he fails to see the problem.

Then he comes to her resort to help her with some PR that they both need. And they get stranded alone together.

They were a total mess! The whole book was one big pile of frustration leading up to the ending. "I love you I hate you I love you I hate you." What a mess. Most of us have been there. Ugh I just wanted to shake them both. I guess that made them more believable. If they had patched things up immediately we just wouldn't have a book now would we.

This novel is very sexual. That is not my style so I won't talk much about that. Just know of that's not your thing you've been warned.

It is written from a very different voice than I've ever read. And it's so different than my own. It was very conversationally written and modern. You could get a sound for the way these two quirky characters voices and thought processes. I enjoyed it.

Last but not least, the Mamma Mia/ABBA references. Zoe is always listening to ABBA. She explains that it is her happy music which is a result of her mothers enjoyment of the music which I completely understand. However, I found so many similarities between the musical and this book.

Listening to the title track "Mamma Mia" I kept nodding and saying "yep, yep that fits too". How about the jealous number "Lay All Your Love On Me" that I swear could have been Rory's theme song. And then there's "Honey Honey" which I could imagine being sung by Zoe. I'm sure I could go on and on but I won't. These references most defiantly are what made me most excited about this book.

Over all this was a challenge for me. This fits in the category of books that aren't in my comfort zone. It was overly sexual, spoke in a voice foreign to me and I couldn't completely envision myself in the place of these characters. However I had a great time getting to know them and trying something new bits kind of line when I go out to eat with my in laws who often convince me to try something new that seems weird but turns out to be good after all.

If romance novels are your thing, I recommend this one!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Review: Interview With The Vampire

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

Over all I am excited about this series. I am not a fan if Vampires necessarily however I had read Rice's memoir previously and therefore knew what aspects of her personal life were written into the novel both intentional and unintentional.

I would strongly recommend her memoir, "Called Out Of Darkness" as a prequel to this book or for further reading if you are already a fan of her work.

The imagery was so vivid throughout. There was a strong masculine feel as it was written in the first person as an interview of the vampire Louie.

The descriptions are so intense that any scene involving blood made me squirm as if I were really seeing the images. It was not grotesque however though extremely dark. It is a reselling of a damned immortal life, of course it is dark.

There are love interests but none are conventional. The entire sense of gender is obscured as there are sexual and/or Intimate moments between characters of all genders. From reading her memoir first I can see from her personal detachment from gender how this would come so natural to Rice. She wrote it in a way that felt natural as a reader as well.

The entire sense of life and death are different through the lens of an old world vampire. The same is true for the idea f religion. Though I can clearly see the vampires search for a higher power as a predominant theme throughout.

I will admit this book was a bit harder to get into at first but I stuck it out. In the end I enjoyed the story. I have begun to read book number two: The Vampire Lestat which I have found Much more interesting seeing as I now know the story through his partner Louie.

Over all I am impressed with this novel and even more impressed with the idea of all the books as a whole.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

A Book Filled Photoshoot

With 200 or so books(some over 100 years old) some feather butterflies and a beautiful 70 degree Texas February day, Mel and I had an absolute blast commemorating her upcoming graduation in photos. She is set to graduate May 11th from UNT where she is an English Major. She is an awesome lady and one of the best friends I've ever had. I hope you all enjoy our fun yet highly symbolic (and slightly humorous) photo shoot!


 In case you missed the humor (or she fooled you) Mel is blind. The upside down book is a little way of saying "You must be able to laugh at yourself"
 Mountains of books to symbolize not only her academic career but the continuation of her story from this chapter on.
 Butterflies to symbolize new beginnings. "This butterfly has burst from its cocoon"