Blog Tour: White Dresses by Mary Pflum Peterson

Author: Mary Pflum Peterson

Publisher: William Morrow

Date of publication: September 15, 2015

In this riveting, poignant memoir of  three generations of women and the white dresses that adorned them—television producer Mary Pflum Peterson recounts a journey through loss and redemption, and her battle to rescue her mother, a former nun, from compulsive hoarding.

As a successful television journalist at Good Morning America, Mary Pflum is known as a polished and highly organized producer. It’s a persona at odds with her tortured childhood, where she watched her emotionally vulnerable mother fill their house with teetering piles of assorted “treasures.” But one thing has always united mother and daughter—their love of white dresses. From the dress worn by Mary’s mother when she became a nun and married Jesus, to the wedding gown she donned years later, to the special nightshirts she gifted Mary after the birth of her children, to graduation dresses and christening gowns, these white dresses embodied hope and new beginnings.

After her mother’s sudden death in 2010, Mary digs deep to understand the events that led to Anne’s unraveling. At twenty-one, Anne entered a convent, committed to a life of prayer and helping others. But lengthy periods of enforced fasting, isolation from her beloved students, and constant humiliation eventually drove her to flee the convent almost a decade later. Hoping to find new purpose as a wife and mother, Anne instead married an abusive, closeted gay man—their eventual divorce another sign of her failure.

Anne retreats into chaos. By the time Mary is ten, their house is cluttered with broken appliances and stacks of unopened mail. Anne promises but fails to clean up for Mary’s high school graduation party, where Mary is being honored as her school’s valedictorian, causing her perfectionist daughter’s fear and shame to grow in tandem with the heaps upon heaps of junk. In spite of everything, their bond endures. Through the white dresses, pivotal events in their lives are celebrated, even as Mary tries in vain to save Anne from herself.

I will admit that I almost didn't finish this book.  The start was very slow and I wasn't sure where the book was headed.   At first, I was convinced the book was just trying to justify a person's bad behavior because of their background.  But, in the end, I am so glad I stuck with the book.  White Dresses is definitely a labor of love.  I can tell that this was a very difficult book for Ms. Peterson to write.  I am very glad that she shared her story with the world.

The memoir traces through her mother Anne's  life as she grows up in a strict household filled 

with  rules and a lack of nurturing, to her heartbreak and depression in college, her abusive time in a convent then subsequent abusive and loveless marriage, and finally through her decent into the horrible world of hoarding.  Through this view into her mother's life, Ms. Peterson was trying to find out the answer to why her mother let herself be consumed by her house and her stuff.  

This book was a wonderful tribute to the author's mother.  Yes, she is brutally honest about the things that her mother goes through throughout her life.  But, she does it in a loving and respectful way.  Despite everything, Anne was a caring, loving and forgiving person.  That is evident through the amount of people that attended her wake. With all of the kind words, you would never know she hid such a horrible secret at home.   Each chapter opens with a white dress that sparks off a new occasion.  For Anne, white dresses were a sign of a new beginning filled with possibilities.  

I highly recommend this book.  I commend and thank Mary Pflum Peterson for sharing her mother with us.  I know her mother would be proud of her today!

About Mary Pflum Peterson

Mary Pflum Peterson is a veteran multi-Emmy-Award winning producer at Good Morning America, the nation’s number one morning news show. Her work at GMA has taken her to papal funerals in Rome, to the ravaged remains of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, to the royal wedding in London and to numerous Oscar ceremonies in between. Prior to joining GMA, Pflum Peterson was a producer and reporter for CNN, where, from her post in Istanbul, she traveled in and out of numerous warz ones, including Afghanistan. Today, her war zone of choice is Manhattan’s Upper West Side where she resides with her husband, Dean, and their four young children, ages 1 to 7.

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Mary’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, August 18th: bookchickdi

Wednesday, August 19th: 5 Minutes For Books

Thursday, August 20th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Friday, August 21st: Snowdrop Dreams of Books

Monday, August 24th: Novel Escapes

Tuesday, August 25th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, August 26th: BookNAround

Friday, August 28th: Kritters Ramblings

Wednesday, September 2nd: Raven Haired Girl

Thursday, September 3rd: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Joint Review: The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon

Author: Jennifer McMahon
Publisher: Doubleday
Date of publication: August 2015

Once the thriving attraction of rural Vermont, the Tower Motel now stands in disrepair, alive only in the memories of Amy, Piper, and Piper's kid sister, Margot. The three played there as girls until the day that their games uncovered something dark and twisted in the motel's past, something that ruined their friendship forever.

Now adult, Piper and Margot have tried to forget what they found that fateful summer, but their lives are upended when Piper receives a panicked midnight call from Margot, with news of a horrific crime for which Amy stands accused. Suddenly, Margot and Piper are forced to relive the time that they found the suitcase that once belonged to Silvie Slater, the aunt that Amy claimed had run away to Hollywood to live out her dream of becoming Hitchcock's next blonde bombshell leading lady. As Margot and Piper investigate, a cleverly woven plot unfolds—revealing the story of Sylvie and Rose, two other sisters who lived at the motel during its 1950s heyday. Each believed the other to be something truly monstrous, but only one carries the secret that would haunt the generations to come.

I really enjoyed The Night Sister. I was pleasantly surprised and liked it a lot more then The Winter People.   It had a lot of twists that kept it exciting right until the end.  It's a hard one to review without giving away any surprises. Let's just say that I was pretty surprised at the end. 

The story is told through flashbacks to the 1950s and 1980s as well as the present.  At first it was a little hard to figure out what is going on, but I ended up liking the format.  It allowed the story to unfold in a logical manner without really giving away any secrets too soon.  The story is a bit creepy but that just adds to the entertainment.  I definitely recommend this one.  

I was rather surprised by this book as well.  I probably shouldn't have been, I've read enough Jennifer McMahon books  to know that she's going to come up with a story line that's completely unusual and hard to guess.  The flashbacks were a little difficult to keep up with in the beginning and initially I didn't care for it, but I found that it was necessary for the story.

I would definitely recommend this book.  It would be especially great for these cool, fall weekends that are coming up soon!

Blog Tour: Laid Out by Sidney Halston

Author: Sidney Halston
Publisher: Loveswept
Date of publication: August 2015

Growing up an Army brat, Violet Channing could never meet her dad’s high expectations. But in the eyes of her best friend, she could do no wrong. He even insisted that he should be her first kiss. Now Cain Sorensen is all grown up, hardened by years in special ops and always looking for a good fight. Tall, with striking blue eyes and impossibly blond hair, he’s a modern-day Viking warrior. Of course, Violet’s all grown up, too, and she’s ready to surrender to his every command.
 
Cain knows he’s bad for Violet. His work is dangerous, and his hobbies are downright deadly. As a private mercenary and a mixed martial arts fighter, he could never let such an innocent soul into his world. And yet his most grueling combat training is no match for Violet’s killer curves, hot touch, and suggestive glances. Now all of Cain’s most explosive fantasies are coming true—but once they cross the line between friends and lovers, there’s no turning back.

My thoughts

Laid Out is the 4th book in the "Worth the Fight" series.  It's the second one that I have read as well. This one holds up well as a stand alone book.  There are characters from the other books, but I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything.  Laid Out is Cain and Violet's story.  It's a great friends to lovers story.

Violet and Cain have been friends since they were just out of diapers.  They grew up together as a trio.  It was always, Cain, Violet and Jeremy.  Jeremy died in the war and Violet and Cain are trying to figure out how to move on.   It's obvious to everyone around them that Cain is in love with Violet and vice versa. The problem is that he hold incredible guilt over it because Jeremy was his best friend and was engaged to Violet before he died.  He is also dealing with PTSD and it is preventing him from opening himself up to love and a future.  Violet is dealing with her own insecurities as  This one was a very emotional book.  I was rooting for this couple the whole time.  

While the emotions run high, there is also a lot of humor in the book.  I loved Violet's relationship with JL and Travis.  That parrot also provided some great comic relief.   This is a wonderful series.  With sexy alphas MMA fighters, steamy love scenes and wonderful HEAs, how can you go wrong?  I have shared a little excerpt with you below to give a taste of what you are in for.

Excerpt:

Violet put her hands up in surrender. “Tom really did chew strange!” She stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Or was it Tim? Whatever. The point is that the way a guy chews is a legitimate flaw. I can’t marry a man who talks and chews at the same time, spitting little chunks of steak in my face. Ew! What if one of those little pieces lands in my eye? I could go blind.”

“The thought you’ve put into that exaggeration is really impressive, if not disturbing.” Her friend threw the scarf back at Violet. “Come on. Finish getting dressed already.”

Minutes later, Violet was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed applying makeup when JL walked in again, fully dressed to bartend at the Pier. “I was thinking . . .”

“Oh, no. Are you okay?”

JL playfully smacked Violet’s shoulder before sitting down on her bed and fussing with Violet’s hair. “Maybe the issue is Cain. Have you heard from him?” That was not something Violet wanted to talk about, and her friend knew it, which was why she’d brought it up. “What the hell is going on with you and Cain? And before you say nothing, remember we’ve been friends for a long time. I know you. We live together. That man has you in knots, and since he left four months ago, you’ve been a Debbie Downer. It’s depressing. You’re depressing.”

“One hundred and ten days. Not that I’m counting. I have absolutely no idea where he’s at. He just vanished. But even when he was here, there was never anything going on with us. You saw how he treated me when he bothered to speak to me. I don’t know what I did to make him hate me. We were best friends, and then we weren’t. Plain and simple. My issues have got nothin’ to do with him.”

“He doesn’t say a word to anyone. I’ve been living in Tarpon Springs for years now, and since he moved here I think I’ve heard him say ten words. So the talking thing, it’s a nonissue. It’s got nothin’ to do with you. The jerk thing—yeah, all you, babe. Not sure what’s up with that. He’s not exactly Mr. Friendly, but he’s not flat-out rude to anyone except you.”

“Except me,” she agreed.

“Why’s that?”

“No clue.” Violet lay back, sucked in her gut, and closed the top button of her jeans. “He’s so surly nowadays,” she said breathlessly. “When we were growing up he was always the quiet and introspective one, but he wasn’t the Cain I’ve met here in town. This Cain’s a—”

“A dick,” JL interrupted.

“Dick! Dick!” Bird cawed.

JL barked out a loud laugh. “I love that bird.”

Violet rolled her eyes and ignored the parrot. “Yep. He’s not very friendly. Cain, not Bird. Actually, both. Or neither.” Violet shook her head. “Ugh! What I mean to say is both Cain and Bird are not friendly.” Violet let out her breath and put her arms out to JL, who grabbed them and pulled her up. “But I’m so freakin’ worried about him. Mad or not, I hope he’s okay.” Violet stretched her legs and walked over to the mirror behind her door to look at herself. Normal to large boobs, average waist, biggish butt, and short legs. She was on the voluptuous side of the spectrum. But she liked the way she looked, and so long as she was healthy, she never dieted and never looked at the scale. It had taken her a lot of years of self-loathing, but now, at twenty-eight, she loved her curvy body and wore it proudly—her father’s opinion, God rest his soul, be damned.

She turned halfway, looked at her backside, and smiled to herself. She had long ago come to terms with the fact that she would never be the same size as JL—but neither were most women. The mean girls in high school who had tormented her and mooed at her when she walked down the hall were now cordially invited to kiss her big behind, because she was happy with her tush just as it was and she seriously enjoyed her cookie dough ice cream addiction.

“Looking good, sister,” JL said. “I swear I’m going to burn your scrubs.”

“You think John will like it?”

JL walked up to Violet and playfully eyed her cleavage. “Only if he’s a guy.” Violet swatted her away and adjusted her top so that she wasn’t spilling out of it. “Come on. You’re going to be late for your date, and I’m going to be late for work.”

Violet took a deep breath, grabbed her purse, and followed JL out of the house. A glass of wine would loosen her up. That’s what she needed in order to get rid of the butterflies in her stomach. She wasn’t so good with dates, and blind dates were the worst.

About the author:

USA Today bestselling author, Sidney Halston lives her life by one simple rule: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started” (Mark Twain). Or even simpler: “Just do it” (Nike). And that’s exactly what she did. At the age of thirty, having never written anything other than a legal brief, she picked up a pen for the first time to pursue her dream of becoming an author. That first stroke sealed the deal, and she fell in love with writing. Halston lives in South Florida with her husband and children.

Website: http://www.sidneyhalston.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sidneyhalston
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SidneyHalston

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6916557.Sidney_Halston

Buy links:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/1RgRjck

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781101886298&cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-VD9*lkiWNd8-_-10:1

iTunes/iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/laid-out/id975021637?mt=11

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sidney_Halston_Laid_Out?id=2y2iBQAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/laid-out

After the Storm by Linda Castillo

by:  Linda Castillo
published by:  Minotaur Books
publish date:  July 14, 2015

When a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones--and notifying the family. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident and Kate finds herself plunged into a thirty year old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged.

Meanwhile, turmoil of an emotional and personal nature strikes at the very heart of Kate's budding relationship with state agent John Tomasetti. A reality that strains their fragile new love to the breaking point and threatens the refuge they've built for themselves--and their future.

This is the 7th book in the Kate Burkholder series.  In my opinion this series is just getting better.  I think it had a little bit of a dip in the middle but it's definitely on an upswing now.

A tornado tears through Painters Mill destroying parts of the town.  A troop of Boy Scouts are assisting in the clean up when they come across a skeleton.  Kate has to call in forensic anthropologists and other experts to date the bones and figure out exactly how and when the victim died.  At the same time, Kate discovers she's pregnant and she isn't sure how this news will affect her relationship with John Tomasetti.  

I really enjoyed this book.  There seemed to be a few critics of this book, but they also sounded like they haven't read the entire series and been through all of Kate's ups and downs.  This is one of my favorite mystery series, Linda Castillo is a great writer and I highly recommend her books.

Blog Tour: The Wonder of All Things by Jason Mott

Author: Jason Mott
Publisher: Harlequin ( Mira)
Date of publication: July 2015

On the heels of his critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling debut novel, The Returned, Jason Mott delivers a spellbinding tale of love and sacrifice

On an ordinary day, at an air show like that in any small town across the country, a plane crashes into a crowd of spectators. After the dust clears, a thirteen-year-old girl named Ava is found huddled beneath a pocket of rubble with her best friend, Wash. He is injured and bleeding, and when Ava places her hands over him, his wounds disappear.

Ava has an unusual gift: she can heal others of their physical ailments. Until the air show tragedy, her gift was a secret. Now the whole world knows, and suddenly people from all over the globe begin flocking to her small town, looking for healing and eager to catch a glimpse of The Miracle Child. But Ava’s unique ability comes at a great cost, and as she grows weaker with each healing, she soon finds herself having to decide just how much she’s willing to give up in order to save the ones she loves most.

Elegantly written, deeply intimate and emotionally astute, The Wonder of All Things is an unforgettable story and a poignant reminder of life’s extraordinary gifts.

After loving The Returned, I was hoping that I would like The Wonder of All Things equally. Sadly, I was disappointed and it ended up being a DNF for me.  I just had a hard time getting into the book.  I think it ended up being the premise of the story.  I found myself getting mad at the reaction of the public once Ava's gift is made known.  I do think that this is a book that will make you think.  Should a person with a gift like this be obligated to share it with the world?  My personal opinion is no.  The child is 13 and healing people clearly makes her sick. What right does anyone have to ask the child to heal them?  To me, they have none. So, in the end, I found I couldn't finish the book.  But that is on me.   I think I may be in the minority on this one.  Check out what others in the tour are saying and try it out for yourself.  

About Jason Mott

JASON MOTT holds a BA in fiction and an MFA in poetry both from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and is the author of two poetry collections. His writing has appeared in numerous literary journals, and he was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize. In addition to the rare achievement of receiving starred reviews from all four of the top publishing industry magazines—Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews—The Returned was named a “People Pick” by People magazine, and was featured in Essence, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, among others.

 Mott also appeared on numerous broadcast programs including NPR’s All Things Considered and Tell Me More, The Travis Smiley Show, the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Radio Show and many local television shows across the U.S. Mott lives in North Carolina.

Connect with Jason

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Jason Mott’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, July 27th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Tuesday, July 28th: A Bookish Way of Life

Wednesday, July 29th: Dreams, Etc.

Thursday, July 30th: Kritter’s Ramblings

Friday, July 31st: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Monday, August 3rd: Sweet Southern Home

Tuesday, August 4th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, August 5th: Laura’s Reviews

Thursday, August 6th: Bibliophiliac

Monday, August 10th: Bewitched Bookworms

Tuesday, August 11th: Mom’s Small Victories

Wednesday, August 12th: A Night’s Dream of Books

Friday, August 14th: A Bookworm’s World

Monday, August 17th: Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, August 18th: The Book Wheel

Friday, August 21st: From the TBR Pile

Monday, August 24th: Broken Teepee

Tuesday, August 25th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Wednesday, August 26th: 5 Minutes for Books

Date TBD: Books a la Mode – author guest post

Throwback Thursday: The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure: The "Good Parts" Version Abridged William Goldman

Author: William Goldman
First published in 1973 by  Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich
Audiobook narrated by Rob Reiner

What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams?

As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.

Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.

What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.

In short, it's about everything.

I did a "not so" Throwback Thursday review a few weeks back of As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride.  In that review, I mentioned that I am a HUGE fan of the movie.  But my secret is that I while I have seen the movie too many times to count, I had never read the book.  Now that I have remedied that, I can say that I am even more of a fan.  I thought the book was very entertaining and something that could be read to a child at bed time.  It's a wonderful adventure story filled with fencing, giants, pirates, princesses, etc.  You get the picture.  Actually, I think that Rob Reiner's movie version did an amazing job of capturing the feel of the book.

If you haven't read the book, I suggest you listen to the audio version.  It's narrated by Rob Reiner.  What I loved about his narration is that he reads it like one would read a book to a child.  His attempts at different voices aren't successful, but what dad out there can do a lot of different voices?  It only adds to the charm of the narration.

The thing about this book is that you have to take it all tongue in cheek.  The joke is that there is no real S. Morgenstern.  There is no "unabridged" version of a politically satirical book called The Princess Bride.  William Goldman wrote this story because his daughters asked him to write a book about a princess.  What a wonderful job he did of it too.

Blog Tour: The Uninvited by Cat Winters

Author: Cat Winters
Publisher: William Morrow
Date of publication: August 2015

Twenty-five-year-old Ivy Rowan rises from her sickbed after being struck by the great influenza epidemic of 1918, only to discover that the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.

But Ivy’s lifelong gift—or curse—remains. She sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked for and unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918, Ivy sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death in the Great War of Ivy’s other brother, Billy.

Horrified, she leaves home and soon realizes that the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for today, because they could be stricken by nightfall. She even enters into a relationship with the murdered German man’s brother, Daniel Schendel. But as her “uninvited guests” begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once again, and terrifying secrets will unfold.

The Uninvited had an interesting premise that made me want to read it.  I was expecting more of a ghost story.  While there are some paranormal elements, there wasn't enough to justify calling it a ghost story.  I wanted to like the book, but in the end, I really didn't care for it. The story takes place during the Influenza outbreak in the early 1900s during WWI.  Tensions were high and anything remotely unpatriotic sounding was met with swift punishment.  People were dying on the battlefront as well as home from the flu outbreak.  Ivy is recovering from her own bout with  the flu when she finds out her father and brother killed a German man. 

I struggled through the story because it felt like it kind of just meandered.  The beginning half was really slow.  I started questioning whether to continue with the book when Ivy makes the decision to give herself to Daniel to help make amends for her father and brother killing his brother.  That was a WTF moment for me.  Who does that?  It just seemed out of character for a spinster recluse to make all of a sudden.  The "romance" between Daniel and Ivy was unrealistic for me.

The book did pick up in the last quarter of the book.  If you can stick with it for that long, you may end up liking the twist.  For me, that particular twisted ending has been overdone and I felt kind of cheated.  I think had the book focused more on the what was actually happening historically with the epidemic and the war, I might have like it a bit more. 

About Cat Winters 

Cat Winters’s debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, was released to widespread critical acclaim. The novel has been named a finalist for the 2014 Morris Award, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013, and a Booklist 2013 Top 10 Horror Fiction for Youth. Winters lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children.

Find out more about Cat at her website, and follow her ontumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Cat’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, August 4th: 100 Pages a Day … Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Thursday, August 6th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, August 7th: Bibliotica

Monday, August 10th: Kritters Ramblings

Wednesday, August 12th: Jenn’s Booshelves

Thursday, August 13th: Bookshelf Fantasies

Tuesday, August 18th: Bibliophilia, Please

Wednesday, August 19th: Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, August 20th: Raven Haired Girl

Thursday, August 20th: From the TBR Pile

Friday, August 21st: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, August 27th: Sidewalk Shoes

Friday, August 28th: The Reader’s Hollow

Blog Tour: Tough Love by Lori Foster

 

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Review & Excerpt Tour for Lori Foster's TOUGH LOVE! TOUGH LOVE is the next novel in her Ultimate Series published by Harlequin HQN. This amazing book releases on August 25^th!  You can pre-order from your favorite book seller by following on of these links:

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble **iBooks ** Kobo ** GooglePlay ** Booksamillion

 She's playing hard to get…to win the MMA fighter of her ultimate fantasies in a sultry new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster 

Vanity Baker loves a good, clean match, but she's not above playing a little dirty. She's wanted Stack "The Wolf" Hannigan from day one. Seems as though the best way to corral the famously commitment-phobic fighter is to insist on keeping it casual. And her plan works—deliciously well—until Stack's past steps out of the shadows. 

Stack learned early to stay free of attachments. But with sexy, forthright Vanity, he's the one always left wanting more. Then his troublemaking family comes back into the picture, threatening everything Stack cares about—Vanity included. Suddenly he realizes they're much more than friends with benefits. He's ready to go to the mat for her…but will it be in time to protect the woman who's tamed him for good?  

  Praise for TOUGH LOVE: “Foster brings her signature blend of heat and sweet to her addictive third Ultimate martial arts contemporary. Foster ably tosses out red herrings and also seamlessly lays the foundation for the next book in this series. This luscious tale will appeal to Foster’s legion of fans and attract new ones—even those who aren’t fans of professional fighting.”- Publishers Weekly  

My thoughts:

I know when I read one of Ms. Foster's books, I am going to get sucked in and not be able to come up for air until I have read every last word. Tough Love, book 3 in the Ultimate series, was no exception. So, I took this book with me on vacation, sat on the deck of our rental cabin with a glass of wine and devoured it!  I loved Stack and Vanity's story.

It is always hard to review a book I love without giving away any secrets or spoilers. I just want to share the story with everyone.  Let's just say that Stack has a past that keep him from really trusting and opening himself up for a relationship.   The last woman he trusted screwed him over.  Vanity has no family and the one she did have never really embraced her.  So, she takes any kind of personal relationship seriously. I loved her openness to make and embrace new friends.

The thing about this couple is that they are so perfect for each other, but neither is willing to admit their feelings for fear that the other will run away. I just loved how Vanity kept inserting herself into Stack's life.  I also loved the way his family welcomed her into the family without a second thought. I was rooting for them the entire book.  This book isn't just about romance.  It has a little mystery to it and I liked the resolution in the end.  I love it when I think one thing and it ends up being something completely different.

While I loved Tough Love, I am just shaking with excitement and anticipation for Fighting Dirty.  I have been waiting for Armie and Merissa's story for ages!  After reading Tough Love, I am even more impatient for it's release!  There is one scene that was brief but so hot, I just know the next book is going to be amazing!

If you haven't read any of this series, each can pretty much be read as a stand alone.  So why not start with Tough Love, or back at the beginning with Hard Knocks?  You won't regret it.

Enjoy this sneak peek into Tough Love!

She softened. Harking back to the idiotic joke about him being a wolf and how ladies reacted, she said, “At least I didn’t howl, right?”

Mocking her, he said, “Little bit.”

She laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t want to ruin your rep.” Now decently covered, she sat on the bed beside him and pulled on socks. “So what’s happening? A street light go out? Lady’s cat stuck in a tree? Somebody have a flat tire?”

“No, smart-ass.” Is that really what she thought they did? If so, he wouldn’t correct her. Soon enough she’d find out that, with Cannon’s leadership, they’d become watchdogs for the neighborhood. Together they’d run off drug dealers, stopped extortion, helped family-run businesses stay open, and secured the safety of the young and the elderly. Being honest, Stack told her, “But if that happened, we’d help if we could.”

“Of course you would.” She looked beneath the bed, found ankle boots and, sitting on the floor, pulled them on. “So what’s going on then?”

He eyed the boots with curiosity. Why the hell was she getting dressed? “My mom collapsed.”

Her face fell. “Oh, God, Stack.” Scrambling back to her feet, she said, “I’m so sorry!”

She looked sincerely, deeply sorry. Huh. They hadn’t yet slept together, she’d never met his mom, but she cared all the same. “My sister called while we were in the shower. When she couldn’t reach me, she called Armie.”

“She knows him?”

“They’ve met. In case of an emergency she has his number along with a few others.”

Her small hand covered her mouth. “So this is an emergency?”

“Hard to say.” He stood and buttoned up his tux shirt, leaving it untucked. “Tabby’s all into drama, so if Mom stubbed her toe, she’d be as likely to call it life and death.”

Gasping, Vanity whispered, “Life and death? That was her message?”

He had to grin at her horrified expression. “No, she just told Armie that Mom collapsed. I’ll call her on my way out to find out the details.”

Nodding, Vanity rushed to her closet and withdrew a dark poncho. She snagged his hand and started out of the room. “Come on.”

When Stack didn’t budge, she pulled up short.

They stared at each other.

“Why are you waiting? You need to make that call!”

Stack nodded. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“With you.”

She said that so matter-of-factly that he frowned in suspicion. “Why would you—”

Exasperated, she hooked her arm through his and tried to get him moving. “You haven’t yet met your obligations. Until you do, I’m not giving you a chance to back out.”

“Believe me, I’ll be back as soon as possible.” He allowed her to drag him to the front door. This time, knowing sex wasn’t on the agenda, he looked around with more interest.

“I’m going with you.”

“Not to a hospital to meet my family.”

“Yes.”

Giving up his perusal of her interesting artwork, he turned to her. The innocence in her face amped up his suspicions even more. “That makes zero sense, darlin’, and you know it.”

TOUGH LOVE is part of the Ultimate series. If you haven't before, make sure you grab the other books in this fantastic series today! 

Hard Knocks   No Limits   Holding Strong 

Tough Love   Fighting Dirty

About Lori Foster:

 Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. Lori has published through a variety of houses, including Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin, Silhouette, Samhain, and Berkley/Jove. She is currently published with HQN.

Lori hosts a very special annual “Reader & Author” event in West Chester, Ohio. Proceeds from the event have benefited many worthy causes, including the Hamilton County YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter, the Animal Adoption Foundation, The Conductive Learning Center for children with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, and The One Way Farm, Children’s Home.

 Each year Lori donates all proceeds from one book to charity. You can see the benefit romance books here: http://lorifoster.com/benefit-books/

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Blog Tour: The Invisibles by Cecilia Galante

Author: Cecilia Galante

Publisher: William Morrow

Date of publication: August 2015

“We’ll choose to remain invisible. To everyone except each other . . . ”

Brought together by chance as teenagers at Turning Winds, a home for girls, Nora, Ozzie, Monica, and Grace quickly bond over their troubled pasts and form their own family, which they dub The Invisibles. With a fierce loyalty to each other, the girls feel that they can overcome any obstacle thrown their way. Though the walls they’ve built around themselves to keep out the rest of the world are thick, they discover one night, when tragedy strikes, that there are cracks in their tight-knit circle.

While Ozzie, Monica, and Grace leave after graduation to forge a fresh start, Nora decides to stay behind in Willow Grove. Now, fifteen years later, she’s content living a quiet, single life working in the local library and collecting “first lines”—her favorite opening lines from novels. But when Ozzie calls out of the blue to let her know Grace has attempted suicide and is desperate for them to reconvene, Nora is torn between elation at seeing the women who were once her most cherished, trusted friends and anxiety over the unresolved conflicts that will most certainly surface.

As the women gather and reminisce, the truth about their lives comes to light. And when The Invisibles decide to take the road trip they always dreamed of, they will be forced to reveal their deepest secrets and confront the night that changed them forever.

Sometimes when I read a book like The Invisibles, I end up feeling emotionally drained.  I wasn't expecting this book to take me on such an emotional roller coaster, but it did.  It's about four friends who became woman together in a girls' home.  They relied on each other in every way that mattered.  After graduation, they went their separate ways and lost touch.  When one of the four women attempts suicide, her husband contacts the other three to come help her.

As I said, this book is pretty intense.  Each of the women have turned into adults shaped by their experiences as children.  Each of them harbors a secret  that is slowly chipping away at their life.  All of their secrets were surprising, but Nora's was the most heartbreaking.  I was choked up as I read the truth behind what happened that last night at the home.  The ending was left a little messy, but I was OK with it. It was like real life. Not everything always gets wrapped up in a neat little bow. The week that the women spent together was just each one needed to find the strength to end up doing the right thing for themselves.  The reader has to have faith that they will follow through.

This is a wonderful, messy, and emotional book about friendship and secrets.  I definitely recommend this one.  I hope you are touched by it as much as I was.

About Cecilia Galante

Cecilia Galante is the author of three young adult novels, three middle-grade books, and a children’s chapter-book series. She is the recipient of many awards, including a NAIBA Book of the Year and an Oprah’s Teen Read Selection for her first novel, The Patron Saint of Butterflies. Her books have been translated into Japanese, Turkish, and Polish.

Find out more about Cecilia at her website, and connect with her on Facebook andTwitter.

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Ceclia’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, August 4th: Many Hats

Wednesday, August 5th: BookNAround

Thursday, August 6th: Fuelled by Fiction

Friday, August 7th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, August 10th: Kahakai Kitchen

Tuesday, August 11th: 100 Pages a Day … Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Wednesday, August 12th: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, August 13th: Raven Haired Girl

Monday, August 17th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Tuesday, August 18th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, August 19th: The Well-Read Redhead

Cover Reveal & Prologue: Built by Jay Crownonver

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Cover Reveal and Prologue for BUILT by Jay Crownover! BUILT is the first novel in her upcoming Saints of Denver Series, a spinoff of her Marked Men Series, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins. BUILT is releasing on January 5, 2016! This is a definite one click, friends!

Check out the cover of BUILT!

 

Preorder BUILT Today!

Amazon US ** iBooks ** Barnes & Noble ** Kobo

  About BUILT: From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men books comes an electrifying new spin-off series,Saints of Denver, featuring all the characters fans have been dying to read about.

 Sayer Cole and Zeb Fuller couldn’t be more different. She’s country club and fine-dining, he’s cell-block and sawdust. Sayer spends her days in litigation, while Zeb spends his working with his hands. She’s French silk, he’s all denim and flannel. Zeb’s wanted the stunning blonde since the moment he laid eyes on her. It doesn't matter how many smooth moves he makes, the reserved lawyer seems determinedly oblivious to his interest—either that or she doesn't return it. Sayer is certain the rough, hard, hot-as-hell Zeb could never want someone as closed off and restrained as she is, which is a shame because something tells her he might be the guy to finally melt her icy exterior. But just as things start to heat up, Zeb is blindsided by a life altering moment from his past. He needs Sayer’s professional help to right a wrong and to save more than himself. He can’t risk what’s at stake just because his attraction to Sayer feels all consuming. But as these opposites dig in for the fight of their lives, battling together to save a family, the steam created when fire and ice collide can no longer be ignored.

And don’t miss this sneak peek of BUILT! Check out the prologue here!

Prologue

I met her at a bar.

She had a beer bottle in her hand even though she looked like she should be sipping champagne out of an expensive flute, and that inexplicably turned me on. She was pretty and looked completely out of place in the no-name bar sitting across from one of my longtime friends who also happened to be her long-lost brother. He was the reason she was here. In that split second that I laid my eyes on her I wanted to be the reason she stayed.

I knew it was rude and that the two of them needed some time together, some time to figure out what they were to each other now that she had blasted into his life unannounced. If I was a better friend I would have left them alone. As it was, I made my way over to the tiny table and sat down. I was covered in sawdust and had drywall mud caked in the hair on my head and on my face, but she didn’t flinch or bat an eyelash when I purposely broke up their party of two and placed myself as close to her as I could without actually touching her.

My buddy Rowdy St. James lifted his eyebrows at me as I stared at her while he introduced us. Sayer Cole. Even her name was elegant and sophisticated sounding. She was an enigma, this pretty woman that seemed like she should be in any place but this bar with the two of us. She’d showed up out of the blue a couple of months ago claiming to be Rowdy’s half sister, claiming that they shared a father, claiming that all she wanted was to be in his life and have some kind of family of her own. She looked too delicate to be that brave. Came across as way too proper to have said “fuck it all” and picked up her life to move it someplace unknown without being sure of her welcome. She looked like silk, but if my guess was right about her, it was silk wrapped around steel.

Luckily Rowdy was a good guy. After the shock of discovering he wasn’t alone in the world, and once he realized he had someone tied to him by blood forever and ever, he had warmed up to the idea of having a sister and appreciated that the sister was Sayer.

I liked Rowdy a lot. He was a stand-up guy and a good friend, but I had a feeling I was going to like his newly found big sister even more. In my usual tactless way I asked him without looking directly at the knockout blonde, “So you have a sister? A hot, classy sister?” A sister that was also a lawyer, so beautiful and smart.

I expected a giggle from her or an eye roll at the outlandish compliment, but what I got was a wide-eyed stare of disbelief as eyes bluer than anything I had ever seen on earth danced between me and her brother like she wasn’t sure what to do with herself or with my overt interest in her.

I thought that I had gone too far, pushed the beautiful stranger too far out of her comfort zone. I was a big guy and knew I looked far wilder and rougher than I actually was. I figured it might be too much for a woman already obviously out of her element and depth to take.

Instead, Sayer surprised me and I could see by the way he stiffened that she surprised Rowdy, too. While she wasn’t exactly overflowing with welcome and warmth, she did ask me about the current project I was working on after Rowdy explained I was a general contractor and had rebuilt the new tattoo shop he worked in. She seemed genuinely interested, and when I told her that my specialty was rehabbing old houses and giving them new life, her eyes practically glowed at me. I wanted to touch her to see if she felt as smooth and polished as she looked. I wanted to leave streaks of dirt on her perfect face to mark the fact that I had touched her, that she had let me touch her. It was a primal and visceral reaction that I couldn’t explain and I liked the way it felt. Liked the weight and heft of it in my blood even if I knew the feeling wasn’t likely to be returned.

She told me all about a fantastic but crumbling Victorian she had purchased that was falling down around her. She asked me for a business card and I saw Rowdy stiffen across the table. I sighed and rubbed a hand over my already messy hair. I watched her eyes follow the light cloud of dust that escaped the strands. I was great at my job, loved what I did, but I couldn’t do anything with her or for her without laying everything on the line. Especially not with Rowdy giving me the death glare from just a few feet away.

I dug the card out of my wallet, and when I handed it over our fingers touched. I saw her eyes widen and her lips part, just barely. She looked a little dazed when I grinned at her.

“You take that card, but understand that the man giving it to you has a past.”

She blinked at me and cleared her throat. “What kind of past?”

It wasn’t something I liked to tell a beautiful woman when I first met her. It was something I liked to work up to, liked to prove it was behind me, but with this one it seemed like I wouldn’t get that chance.

“I tell everyone that I do any kind of work for or that considers hiring me on for a project that I have a criminal history. I spent time locked up for a few years, and while I’m not proud of it I can’t deny it happened. I was a hotheaded kid and it got me in trouble, but I’m the best at what I do, so I hope that doesn’t discourage you from giving me a call.” Hopefully for more than some construction.

Usually I got a concerned frown followed by a hundred questions about what had led me to serving time. I got none of that from the stunning blonde. She tilted her head to the side and considered me silently for a long moment before reaching down and slipping my card in her purse. If anything, I could have sworn she was wearing a look of sympathy when she told me softly, “I see it every day from the inside. Sometimes the system simply gets it wrong.” A slight grin turned her mouth up at the corners, and I wanted to lean over and kiss it. “People make mistakes. Hopefully they learn from them.”

I don’t know that “wrong” was accurate in my case so much as misguided, but the complete lack of judgment or censure coming from her made me want to pull her into my arms and hold on to her even more. I had made a mistake, a huge one, one that I was forever going to have to carry around with me, but I had learned from it, was still learning from it. That kind of understanding from a total stranger was so rare, especially coming from someone in the legal field. I wasn’t accustomed to someone looking at me and seeing me, just me, not an ex-con loser after I explained where I had been. It was wildly refreshing and attractive. I couldn’t quite get a handle on what made the woman tick, but I would welcome any opportunity she gave me to figure it out. I found her outwardly flawless and pristine demeanor tempting to taint with my dirty hands and ways, and there was something about the way she watched me, the way she turned toward me like she was drawn to me, that made me think maybe I wasn’t alone in the inexplicable pull department.

Rowdy left and she stayed.

We had a couple more beers and talked some more about her house and what she wanted done with it. She already hired one contractor but felt like the guy was ripping her off. It happened a lot in the industry, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy was taking her for a ride. Spending time with her was easy. She was fun to talk to and really fun to look at. I really wanted to get my hands on her house and of course on her, and I felt like she was maybe, kind of, slightly leaning in the same direction when I made the mistake of asking her about her past.

I asked about where she had been before she found out about Rowdy and decided to move to Denver so that she could get to know him. I was curious what kind of life she had where she could leave everything behind and not be missed. Really I wanted to know if she had a boyfriend or husband stashed somewhere, but the simple inquiry must have touched a nerve. The next thing I knew she had paid out the tab for both of us and disappeared into the night. She went from glowing and bright to frigid and untouchable in the span of a heartbeat.

I figured I blew my shot by being too blunt, as always. I assumed she probably did have someone else in the picture and had been friendly and polite only because I was good friends with her brother. I thought I would never hear from her again and was baffled why the thought of that made my chest ache and my heart feel like it weighed two tons.

Imagine my surprise when she called me and hired me to renovate her house a week later without a bid, without a contract, without even knowing if I was half as good as I claimed to be.

Of course I accepted, but I knew once I was inside I would need to knock down and rearrange more than just the walls of the house, in order to get at something beautiful and lasting.

About Jay Crownover:

Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men and The Point series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she'll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.        

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