Review: Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich

Author: Stephanie Evanovich
Publisher: William Morrow
Date of publication: July 2013

They say that big girls don't cry. But when the chips are down and the dip is gone, what can you do? Pull up your BIG GIRL PANTIES and change your life.

Holly Brennan didn't expect to be a widow at thirty-two. She also didn't expect to be so big. Through her husband Bruce's diagnosis and death, food was the one thing she could always count on. Now, those extra pounds make flying coach more than a little mortifying-especially since she's sitting next to Adonis himself, aka Logan Montgomery, a personal trainer to the country's most famous pro athletes.

Though Holly doesn't make the grade on his first-impression meter, Logan finds himself intrigued by her sharp wit and keen insight-a welcome change from the beautiful bubble-headed dolls he usually dates-and impulsively offers to get her back in shape. Ready to make at least one positive change in her life, Holly agrees.

I have to admit that I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book.  I was happy to say that I was sucked right into the story and finished it in one day.   The best part about this book is Holly.  She is a character with whom I could easily relate.  In the beginning of the book,  we don't know a lot about her.  We learn more about her as the story unfolds.  She is a grieving widow, but her marriage isn't all that it seemed to be.  When she meets Logan on the plane, she decides to make a change and begin to train with him. Given her background, her lack of confidence and low self-esteem came across as very genuine.   I found myself cheering her on as she makes changes in her life to get to a healthy place.

This story isn't just about a woman's transformation, it's about figuring out what is truly important in life.  Image isn't everything.  Through his relationship with Holly, Logan is able to find himself and what he really wants out of life.  I admit, I was suspicious of him throughout most of the book.  I was really hoping he would figure it all out in the end.  I love seeing two people who are so opposite figure out that they are so right for each other.

There was one thing about the book that I thought was unnecessary.  The story-line involving Logan's friends, Chase and Amanda and their spanking lifestyle just seemed out of place.  I think the book would have been fine without it.  Although it did allow for a very amusing scene between Logan and Holly.  This book is the author's debut.  I can see a bright future for her.  I look forward to her next book.

About the author:

Stephanie Evanovich is a full-fledged Jersey girl who began writing fiction while waiting for her cues during countless community theater projects. She attended New York School of Film and Television and acted in several improvisational troupes and a few small-budget movies, all in preparation for the greatest job she ever had, raising her two sons. Now a full-time writer, she's an avid sports fan who holds a black belt in tae kwon do.

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

by:  Cath Crowley
published by:  Knopf Books for Young Readers
publish date:  February 14, 2012

Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He's out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy's stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they're suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.
  This was one of those books I didn't have any special expectations for, but it caught my eye at the library.  I ended up really enjoying it.  The audiobook was very well done with an ensemble cast.

This was a very sweet, simple YA book.  There were no love triangles, no crazy cases of instalove.  It was just a good story about a some boys and girls that already knew each other, like most normal teens do, and the long night they spend together looking for Shadow and Poet.  Lucy and Ed have a past together that they would both rather forget, but they end up stuck together for the night and they both begin to remember what drew them to each other for their first awkward date.

The book is told from alternating view points of Lucy, Ed, and two of their friends.  For the audiobook, this is where the ensemble cast really works well.  A lot of YA books talk about art, but this one talked about two types of art that I hadn't really thought much about, glass-blowing and graffiti art.  I did find myself paying more attention to some of the graffiti as I drove around town after reading this book.

I haven't read of Cath Crowley's other books, but I would definitely recommend this one to the YA readers.  The audiobook was worth a listen for sure.  It would be great, quick beach read.

Complete Me Blog Hop Sponsored by Romance at Random

For fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and Bared to You comes the third novel in the erotic, fast-paced trilogy including Release Me and Claim Me. This sexy, emotionally charged romance continues the story of Damien Stark, the powerful multimillionaire who’s never had to take “no” for an answer, and Nikki Fairchild, the Southern belle who only says “yes” on her own terms.


To promote the release of Complete Me, Romance at Random is giving away 10 copies, plus lots of other awesome prizes!  22 winners in all!

Want to win a copy?  fill out the raffle copter below.  Make sure to visit the other blog on the tour for more chances to win!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Duke's Temptation by Jillian Hunter

Author: Jillian Hunter
Publisher: Signet Select 
Date of Publication: November 2010

Samuel Charles Aubrey St. Aldwyn, Duke of Gravenhurst, is a radical rogue and champion of unpopular causes. No one would dream that he is also the author of a bestselling series of dark historical novels, a writer accused of corrupting the morals of the public, and a master seducer who counts among his passionate fans wellborn Miss Lily Boscastle. But Lily is no stranger to disrepute.

When her engagement to another man ends in a tarnished image and public disgrace, Lily is forced to seek employment outside London --- as housekeeper for Gravenhurst himself. Her sharp wit and sensuality appeal to his wicked instincts --- and she's a perfect match for every beguiling move he makes. Yet there's more to him than Lily imagined --- a secret known to few living souls, ghosts from the past that haunt both of their futures in ways too dangerous for even the duke to have invented.

I thought this book was a lot of fun.  I enjoyed the characters as well as the love story.  Samuel and Lily were great together and have some wonderful banter.  The two were well matched.  One of the things that appealed to me the most was the way Samuel fell hard for Lily first and did everything he could to win her over.  There were a lot of laugh out loud moments.  

I loved that Samuel was a writer, especially a writer of adventure and romance.  You don't see much of that these days, as most romantic writers are female.  I had to laugh every time Lily insisted that Sir Anonymous was a woman.   The ways he uses his staff to help him act out plot scenarios was fun and clever.  They make for some amusing scenes.  

I listened to the audiobook and I thought the narrator did a wonderful job.  I look forward to seeking out the next book in the series!

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

Author: Tom McNeal
Publisher:  Knopf Books for Young Readers
Date of publication: June 2013

It says quite a lot about Jeremy Johnson Johnson that the strangest thing about him isn't even the fact his mother and father both had the same last name. Jeremy once admitted he's able to hear voices, and the townspeople of Never Better have treated him like an outsider since. After his mother left, his father became a recluse, and it's been up to Jeremy to support the family. But it hasn't been up to Jeremy alone. The truth is, Jeremy can hear voices. Or, specifically, one voice: the voice of the ghost of Jacob Grimm, one half of the infamous writing duo, The Brothers Grimm. Jacob watches over Jeremy, protecting him from an unknown dark evil whispered about in the space between this world and the next. But when the provocative local girl Ginger Boultinghouse takes an interest in Jeremy (and his unique abilities), a grim chain of events is put into motion. And as anyone familiar with the Grimm Brothers know, not all fairy tales have happy endings. . .

I have very mixed feeling about this book.  I guess I have to say that I liked it, but didn't at the same time.  I liked the idea for the story.  I also enjoyed picking out elements of the Brothers' Grimm fairy tales that are woven in the tale.  I liked the mystery and the dark turn that the story takes.

What I didn't like was the pacing.  The story was kind of boring.  Not a lot happens for a long time. The story only gets good at about the halfway mark.  I know this is marketed for a middle grade level, but I have to wonder if most of them will make it through the first half of the book. The characters were kind of forgettable as well.   If you can stick with it, the ending is good if not a little sad.

Blog Tour: Rosemary Cottage by Colleen Coble

Author: Colleen Coble
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Date of publication:

The cottage by the sea offers Amy a refuge to mourn her brother’s death and perhaps even discover a new love. But what if Ben’s death was no accident?

Rosemary Cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina has been in Amy Lang’s family for generations and offers her a haven within its peaceful walls. There she hopes to discover what really happened to her brother, Ben, even as she tries to come to grips with his death in the ocean months before.

Rosemary Cottage is the sequel to The Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble.  I think I actually liked this one a bit more than the first.   There is a really good, solid mystery along with a very sweet romance.  I thought the mystery was really intriguing.  I was sucked in right away and couldn't put the book down.  I wanted to know what really happened to Gina and Ben.  I won't give it away, but you can count on the fact that not everything is as it seems.  The twist surprised me in the end!

I loved the characters.  Curtis is one of the Coasties who is raising his sister's daughter, Raine.  Amy has moved to the island to find out what happened to her brother.  She doesn't believe his death was an accident. While she and Curtis investigate both his and Gina's deaths, they become closer.  I loved these two together. They are both grieving and trying to heal from their losses.  I really admired Amy and her convictions when it came to midwifery and natural healing.  Her reasons for not wanting to get close to Curtis were heartbreaking, but I was really rooting for her to be able move past that and allow herself to find love.

Along with a great romance and mystery, we are able to catch up with Libby and Alec from the first book.  I was so happy to see they were still happy and in a wonderful place.  I'm hoping that in the next book, Sara and Josh find their HEA, maybe?  I look forward to the next visit to Hope Beach!

About the author:
Best-selling author Colleen Coble's novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, ACFW Book of the Year, RWA's RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers' Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has nearly 2 million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers and is a member of Romance Writers of America. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana.

Learn more about Colleen: http://colleencoble.com/

Guest post & review: Like You Read About by Mela Remington

Please welcome author Mela Remington, who is promoting her new book, Like You Read About. Her guest post today is about her NaNoWriMo/40th birthday challenge.

Giveaway details:  Want to win an e-copy?  Leave comment with a valid e-mail to enter.  The winner will be chosen on July 25.

Publisher: Smashwords

Date of publication: April 2013

 

What if your soul mate has been sitting across from you at a conference room table for the last two years?

Cora O'Malley is a shy accountant for a small pharmaceutical company in the Boston area. After years of being single, struggling with her self image and self confidence she finds out that the IT guy she's been crushing on is single and also looking for possibilities.

Cora decides to take life by the email and see if she and Daniel Santagata, the IT man have anything in common, if there really are sparks between them...

My thoughts:

Like You Read about is the debut offering by author Mela Remington.  It was a pretty cute story about two lonely people who find each other in the least likely place, work.  Cora has had a crush on Daniel for a long time.  The past 2 years, she has worked hard to lose weight and build up her confidence.  When she finally gets up the guts to talk to Dan, she realizes there is a mutual interest.

I enjoyed the journey these two took together.  The e-mails that they exchanged were fun and flirty.  They say that the best way to get to know someone if through letters.  I really felt like Cora and Dan got to know each other pretty well.  Their HEA was very sweet.  I liked that Cora had problems with her body image and self confidence.  That made her more real to me and I felt like I could really relate to her.  

The book is a pretty quick read and worth giving a try.

Hi all, thanks so much for having me here at From the TBR Pile.  As an avid reader my own TBR pile is insane and it always comforts me to know that there are others like me out there in the world.  

My 40^th birthday loomed large, I’d been working on my review blog for a few months, and had been reading voraciously, but something was missing, I had so much stuff rolling around in my head and really didn’t know what to do.  As November approached a number of my friends were posting all over Facebook about getting ready for NaNoWriMo, in years past I’d laughed at their insanity… write a book in a month, ok crazypants, you go ahead and do that.

Then I really thought about it and thought, well I have this story in my head, about how I met my husband, maybe this challenge would force me to spew it out in a way I could share it with others.  As my birthday is in early November my wonderful husband decided to buy me a laptop.  It was a wonderful gift, it’s a trusty Lenovo, and I’ve made it all pretty with stickers from Vera Bradley.  Anyhow, on November 1 I created a word document, and I had the title already.  Let’s keep in mind I haven’t written a word of fiction since I was in high school, so it’d been about 25 years, I thought I was out of my ever loving mind.

‘Like you read about’ is a phrase my husband uses all the time, and I knew it was the perfect title.  I started writing, and kept writing and didn’t stop.  I kept entering my word count into the NaNoWriMo and watching the graph rise and getting my projected finish date.  Every time I saw the projected finish date I laughed, thinking ‘There’s no way in hell I’ll finish by X date.’  Well I did finish, much sooner than I thought I would and by November 21 I had 56k words and a story I was pretty happy with, although I tinkered a little here and there.  Then I walked away from it for at least a month.  I wanted to let it set and settle before I did some additional editing.

I had talked to some friends and they were interested and supportive.  I had some friends, and some strangers Beta read for me, and asked them to give me honest feedback and not worry about hurting my feelings.  The responses were a mixed bag of goodies and I spent a lot of time going through them and editing my book even more.  Then I bit the bullet and hired a professional editor.  She and I worked together for about a month to get the book ready, and in the end we had the final product that you can read today… with one small exception.  Even though it was finished I felt like I missed something.

In the last few weeks before publishing I had been dreaming about my friend dear Kaelyn, she died six years earlier from metastatic breast cancer, but she was in my dreams, almost nightly nagging me about something that I still can’t remember.  One morning I woke up, opened the Word doc of the edited book and did a global find and replace, initially the best friend character was called Amy, but I knew that wasn’t really her name.  Once I fixed the odd words that contained “amy” that ended up with Kaelyn stuck in the middle I knew the book was done and I was ready to publish.  

What started out as a fun way to tell the story of how my husband and I met turned into a life altering experience.  Being 40 isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and NaNoWriMo and this book have sparked my creative side and fed my soul.  I hope you enjoy reading the book half as much as I enjoyed writing it, and thank you so much for having me on your blog!  

About the author:

Mela lives in Rhode Island with her husband, her daughter and two cats, one who is still trying to kill her even after 8 years and one who thinks she’s just too damn fancy for everyone else in the house. By day you’ll find her protecting the humans, by night you’ll find her living vicariously through her favorite characters, while sitting next to her husband on the sofa. A voracious reader (396 books in 2012!), her debut novel, Like You Read About was started as a NaNoWriMo/40th birthday challenge, her wonderful supportive husband bought her a laptop and told her to go for it. It’s been more than 25 years since she’d written any fiction and now she has the bug and is hard at work on her next book, the first in a series called Dominion.  

website: http://www.melaremington.com/

twitter username: mela_remington

Blog Tour: Restrike by Reba White Williams

Author: Reba White Williams
Publisher: Delos
Date of publication: June 2013


Cousins Coleman and Dinah Greene moved from North Carolina to New York after college to make their mark on the art world: Coleman is the editor of an influential arts magazine and Dinah is the owner of a print gallery in Greenwich Village.

When billionaire Heyward Bain arrives with a glamorous assistant, announcing plans to fund a fine print museum, Coleman is intrigued and plans to get to know Bain and publish an article about him. Dinah hopes to sell him enough prints to save her gallery. At the same time, swindlers, attracted by Bain’s lavish spending, invade the print world to grab some of his money.

When a print dealer dies in peculiar circumstances, Coleman is suspicious, but she can’t persuade the NYPD crime investigator of a connection between the dealer’s death and Bain’s buying spree. After one of Coleman’s editors is killed and Coleman is attacked, the police must acknowledge the connection, and Coleman becomes even more determined to discover the truth about Bain. In an unforgettable final scene, Coleman risks her life to expose the last deception threatening her, her friends, and the formerly tranquil print world.

Restrike is a pretty good mystery.    For the most part, I liked the overall story.  There is a lot packed into this book, so it takes a bit of sorting through to figure out what is going on initially. I kind of felt  like there were too many characters to keep track of at times.  Despite that, the mystery was well planned out with twists that will surprise you.  One of them, I wasn't expecting at all.  I know nothing, really, about the art world or about prints, but that didn't really make a difference to the story.  I felt like the author gave me enough information to be comfortable with the topic.

Dinah and Coleman are great characters.  I was happy when Dinah finally got a backbone and stood up to her husband.  I also like Coleman.  She is a likable character who values her family and friends.  I also liked her side-kick, Dolly. They are definitely characters I would like to see in future books.  It looks like this is the start to a series, so I look forward to the further adventures of Coleman and Dinah.

About the author:

I planned to make my living writing novels. But in New York, economic reality caught up with me, and I wrote about art, and business and finance, because that’s what I could get into print, and what paid the rent.

Along the way, I earned my MBA at Harvard, my MA in Art History at Hunter, my PhD in Art History at the Graduate Center, CUNY, and my MA in Fiction Writing at Antioch University.

I’ve written articles for numerous art and financial magazines, including Art & Auction, Print Quarterly, and Institutional Investor. I’ve served on the Print Committees of the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum. I’ve been a member of the Editorial Board of Print Quarterly, and I am an Honorary Keeper of American Prints at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University. I’ve served as President of the New York City Art Commission, and Vice Chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts.

Fine-art print collecting, in collaboration with my husband, has been a major activity, and prompted me to return to school for a PhD in Art History. We used our collection, thought to be the largest of its type—prints by American artists—to create traveling exhibitions. We circulated seventeen separate exhibits to over one hundred museums worldwide, and I did most of the research and wrote the exhibition catalogues. In December 2008, most of our collection—about 5000 prints—was donated to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, but we are still recognized as experts in the field.

Review: Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson

by:  Joshilyn Jackson
published by:  William Morrow
publish date:  November 19, 2013

At twenty-one Shandi Pierce is juggling finishing college, raising her delightful three-year-old genius son Nathan, aka Natty Bumppo, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced Christian mother and Jewish father. She's got enough complications without getting caught in the middle of a stick-up in a gas station mini-mart and falling in love with a great wall of a man named William Ashe, who willingly steps between the armed robber and her son.

There's a long time between now and when this book actually comes out, but once I got a copy in my hands I just couldn't wait.  Joshilyn Jackson is one of my all time favorite writers.  

Someone Else's Love Story had a little bit different feel to it than JJ's other books.  It had more serious undertones.  The book dealt with topics like rape and the lengths some women will go to deny that violence has been done against them.  Another topic in this book was Asperger's Syndrome.  I wondered if Joshilyn was inspired by her friend Lydia Netzer and her book Shine, Shine, Shine.  Another great book btw.

While this book leaned a bit more towards the serious, it still had all the quirky language that makes Joshilyn Jackson books so fun to read.  Her books just keep getting better and better.  If you haven't read one yet, I so highly recommend all of them.

Review: Slow Summer Burn by Elisabeth Barrett

Author: Elisabeth Barrett
Publisher: Loveswept
Date of publication: August 12, 2013

Val Grayson has been a strong, steady presence in his younger brothers’ lives. Now that the other Grayson men have settled down, Val is able to focus on himself … and he has gorgeous, privileged Cameron Stahl in his sights. Cam has just opened her second antique store in Star Harbor and is more than receptive to sexy-as-sin Val’s advances. But Cam’s family isn’t too keen on their precious daughter dating a DEA agent. It’ll be up to Val to convince Cam–and himself–that he’s worth it. And man, is he worth it

Slow Summer Burn is the final installment of the Grayson Brothers series. Val is the oldest of the boys and he has sacrificed everything for his brothers.  Isn't it time for him to have a little happiness   Cameron is trying to escape her privileged life and make a name for herself on her own.  Can I just say how much I loved these two together?  I loved how Cam kept surprising Val and slowly changed his opinion of her.  The furniture building scene was priceless!  The ending was so sweet and I was happy to see Val get his HEA.

I liked the wrap-up to the two stories arches in the series.  Do they find the kingpin of the drug ring? Will the keys help them find the lost treasure?  You'll have to read this last book to find out.  I would hate to ruin it for you.   I have enjoyed this series immensely and I am sad to see it end.  I look forward to what Ms. Barrett has in store for us next!

Review: Making it Last by Ruthie Knox

Author: Ruthie Knox
Publisher: Loveswept
Date of Publication: July 15, 2013 

A hotel bar. A sexy stranger. A night of passion. There’s a part of Amber Mazzara that wants those things, wants to have a moment — just one — where life isn’t a complicated tangle of house and husband and kids and careers. Then, after a long, exhausting “vacation” with her family, her husband surprises her with a gift: a few days on the beach . . . alone.

Only she won’t be alone long, because a handsome man just bought her a drink. He’s cool, he’s confident, and he wants to take Amber to bed and keep her there for days. Lucky for them both, he’s her husband. He’s only got a few days in Jamaica to make her wildest desires come true, but if he can pull it off, there’s reason to believe that this fantasy can last a lifetime.

Making it Last actually takes place between Along Came Trouble  and Flirting with Disaster, even though it is the fourth book in the series   I am so happy that Ms. Knox decided to write another novella featuring Tony and Amber.  It's been ten years since we first met them in How to Misbehave.   Not everything is champagne and roses.  Can they get back to themselves and will they fight for what they want?

I loved this story.  As much as I love my HEAs in romance novels, I often wonder how long they stay that way.  How does the couple cope with real life?  I thought Making it Last realistically portrayed a married couple who is fighting to make it day to day and has forgotten what is really important.  I was really rooting for them to get back to the basics and back to who they really are both apart and separate.  The ending was sweet and made me sigh to know that his couple was going to be OK.  This whole series has been wonderful and not one you want to miss!