The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

by:  Katarina Bivald
published by:  Sourcebooks Landmark
publish date:  January 19, 2016

Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her pen pal, Amy. When she arrives, however, she finds that Amy's funeral has just ended. Luckily, the townspeople are happy to look after their bewildered tourist—even if they don't understand her peculiar need for books. Marooned in a farm town that's almost beyond repair, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend's memory. 

All she wants is to share the books she loves with the citizens of Broken Wheel and to convince them that reading is one of the great joys of life. But she makes some unconventional choices that could force a lot of secrets into the open and change things for everyone in town.
Right off the bat, I love the cover of this book.  Just that will make me at least pick it up.  The blue and yellow are so pretty!  The font is beautiful and the white looks really good against the blue.  Whoever designed it did a fantastic job.  

I loved this book.  Sara is a quiet lady from Sweden who has never done anything, until she saves up her money to travel to Iowa to visit her pen pal.  However, when she gets there, she finds out Amy has just died.  Instead of going back home, she decides to stay, and live in Amy's house.  The townspeople insist because that's what Amy would have wanted.  When Sara runs out of things to do, she decides to open a bookstore in Amy's honor.  However, this little thing gets this sleepy little town riled up in ways no one would have ever expected.  

This book is such a fun read.  I will definitely be recommending this one to anyone who asks.  I think it will be a big hit this summer for all the beach readers.  The book clubs will love it too.  Any book lover will love all the literary references throughout the book.  Go check it out, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Blog Tour: Spotlight of Rare Objects by Kathleen Tessaro

Author: Kathleen Tessaro

Publisher: Harper

Date of publication: April 2016

In Depression-era Boston, a city divided by privilege and poverty, two unlikely friends are bound by a dangerous secret. . . .

Maeve Fanning, a first generation Irish immigrant, was born and raised among the poor, industrious Italian families of Boston’s North End by her widowed mother. Clever, capable, and headstrong, Maeve is determined to better herself despite the hardships of the Great Depression. However, she also has a dangerous fondness for strange men and bootleg gin—a rebellious appetite for experience that soon finds her spiraling downward in New York City. When the strain proves too much, Maeve becomes an involuntary patient in a remote psychiatric hospital, where she strikes up a friendship with an enigmatic young woman, who, like Maeve, is unable or unwilling to control her unladylike desire for freedom.

After her release, Maeve returns to Boston to start over again, landing a job at an antiques shop catering to the city’s wealthiest and most peculiar collectors. Run by an elusive English archeologist, the shop is a haven for the obscure and incredible, supplying one-of-a-kind artifacts to its customers while providing Maeve with unique access into the world of New England’s social elite. While delivering a purchase to a wealthy family, Maeve is introduced to beautiful socialite Diana Van der Laar—only to discover she’s the same young woman from the hospital.

Reunited with the charming but increasingly unstable Diana and pursued by her attractive brother James, Maeve becomes more and more entwined with the Van der Laar family—a connection that pulls her into a world of moral ambiguity and deceit. Bewitched by their wealth and desperate to leave her past behind, Maeve is forced to unearth her true values and discover just how far she’s willing to go to reinvent herself.

A rich, universal story of ambition, transformation, desire, and betrayal, Rare Objectsis acclaimed writer Kathleen Tessaro’s finest work to date.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Kathleen Tessaro

Kathleen Tessaro is the author of Elegance, Innocence, The Flirt, and The Debutante. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her husband and son.

Find out more about Kathleen at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

Kathleen’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, April 12th: BookNAround

Wednesday, April 13th: Books and Bindings

Thursday, April 14th: Kritters Ramblings

Friday, April 15th: View from the Birdhouse

Monday, April 18th: 100 Pages a Day…Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Tuesday, April 19th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, April 20th: The Feminist Texican [Reads]

Thursday, April 21st: Curling Up by the Fire

Friday, April 22nd: Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, April 25th: Always With a Book

Tuesday, April 26th: West Metro Mommy

Thursday, April 28th: #redhead.with.book

Friday, April 29th: For the Love of Words

Monday, May 2nd: Puddletown Reviews

Tuesday, May 3rd: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, May 4th: The many thoughts of a reader

Thursday, May 5th: Time 2 Read

Friday, May 6th: A Literary Vacation

Stars of Fortune by Nora Roberts

Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: Berkley
Date of publication: November 2015

To celebrate the rise of their new queen, three goddesses of the moon created three stars, one of fire, one of ice, one of water. But then they fell from the sky, putting the fate of all worlds in danger. And now three women and three men join forces to pick up the pieces…

Sasha Riggs is a reclusive artist, haunted by dreams and nightmares that she turns into extraordinary paintings. Her visions lead her to the Greek island of Corfu, where five others have been lured to seek the fire star. Sasha recognizes them, because she has drawn them: a magician, an archaeologist, a wanderer, a fighter, a loner. All on a quest. All with secrets.

Sasha is the one who holds them together—the seer. And in the magician, Bran Killian, she sees a man of immense power and compassion. As Sasha struggles with her rare ability, Bran is there to support her, challenge her, and believe in her.

But Sasha and Bran are just two of the six. And they all must all work together as a team to find the fire star in a cradle of land beneath the sea. Over their every attempt at trust, unity, and love, a dark threat looms. And it seeks to corrupt everything that stands in its way of possessing the stars…

I'll be honest, I was a bit hesitant to read this book.  I have enjoyed this author's earlier fantasy trilogies. But her last one, "The Cousin's O'Dwyer" series (starting with Dark Witch), I couldn't even finish.  I was completely underwhelm by the first two books and I didn't bother with the last one in the trilogy..  I am happy to say, that Ms. Roberts is indeed back to her good writing form with a great start to a new fantasy series.  Stars of Fortune is what Dark Witch could have been. In this new series, six strangers are drawn together to search for three stars that were formed for a goddess queen.  There is a dark force who wants the stars for her own. It is up to them to save the world from living in darkness.

What I loved about this book was the characters.  All of them have a special gift, but those gifts aren't revealed all at once.  I'm not going to give them away because it would definitely ruin the story.  There are a couple of surprises.  I think my favorite character was Annika.  Her personality does across as naive and very rose colored, but once you realize where she comes from, it all makes sense.  She was a breath of fresh air and added in a lot of comic relief.

I thought the plot in this one was strong.  Each of the six characters were well fleshed out. I also loved the world that Ms. Roberts has built in this one.  This is not a repeat of the "Circle Trilogy".  It's very different.  In fact, I think I may just end up liking this one better in the end.  Here's hoping the next book, Bay of Sighs is equally as strong.

Hard Ever After by Laura Kaye

Author: Laura Kaye
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date of publication: February 2016

Justice served. Honor restored. Team reunited. 

After a long battle to discover the truth, the men and women of Hard Ink have a lot to celebrate, especially the wedding of two of their own—Nick Rixey and Becca Merritt, whose hard-fought love deserves a happy ending.

As Nick and the team shift from crisis mode to building their new security consulting firm, Becca heads back to work at the ER. But amid the everyday chaos of demanding jobs and their upcoming nuptials, an old menace they thought long gone reemerges, threatening the peace they’ve only just found.
Now, for one last time, Nick and Becca must fight for their always and forever, because they know that when true love overcomes all the odds it lasts hard ever after.

Hard Ever After is the follow up short story to the Hard Ink series.  I have really enjoyed this entire series so it was nice to have a "what happened" after book to wrap everything up.  Nick Rixey and Becca Merritt were the first couple in the series and the ones that kicked off the story arc of Nick and his buddies clearing their name.  

I don't want to give away too much of what happens, but they do all get even better HEAs than in the last book of the series.  If any characters deserved it, they all did.  What I loved even more was the how the author showed the reality of the aftermath of going through trauma. Becca went through a lot and once the dust settled, it started catching up with her.  I loved how everyone rallied around her in the end.

As I said, this was a great follow up to the series. I often hate to leave characters from a series that I enjoy, so getting a sneak peek into how they are all doing is a real treat.  If you haven't read the Hard Ink Series, definitely start with the first one, Hard as It Gets.  You won't be sorry.

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

by:  Allen Eskens
published by:  Seventh Street Books
publish date:  October 14, 2014

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson.  Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.

As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory. 

I read The Guise of Another, also by  Allen Eskens, and I was expecting a little bit more involvement by the detective in this story.  The Guise of Another is like a companion book to The Life We Bury.  Each book has a different detective in it, but the two detectives are brothers.  Anyway, the first book I read was all about the detective, so I figured he would play a bigger role in this book.

This book isn't so much about Joe Talbert writing the biography of Carl Iverson.  It turned out to be more of Joe's investigation into Carl's murder conviction.  He becomes obsessed with proving Carl is innocent.  Joe is also dealing with an alcoholic mother who is determined to ruin everyone's life.  He also has to keep an eye out on his autistic brother.  All this going on while he is falling in love with his next door neighbor.  

This was a great story.  It was well written and the clues were handed out at just the right pace.  The mystery lovers will enjoy this book.

Darkness by Karen Robards

Author: Karen Robards
Publisher: Gallery Books
Date of publication: March 2016

BOOM. That’s the sound that changes everything for Dr. Gina Sullivan, a renowned ornithologist on a group research grant trip on the remote island of Attu, Alaska. When an everyday outing turns sinister at the onset of one of Attu’s infamous storms, Gina expects thunder and lightning—but what she doesn’t see coming is the small jet plane that drops out of the sky and into the water mere feet from her boat. Even more unprecedented: there’s a sole survivor from the crash, and he needs Gina’s help. But it turns out that rescuing the stranger and getting them both out of the oncoming storm is just the beginning. Because the more Gina learns about James “Cal” Callahan, he of brooding eyes and muscled frame, the more she fears—for herself, and for him. 

Darkness was non-stop action with two great main characters.  I really enjoyed this latest book from this author. Gina is on an island in Alaska researching birds, when a plane falls out of the sky right near her boat.  She rescues the lone survivor (Cal) and realizes that he is a dangerous man and her only chance at survival.  

I thought this was a solid adventure.  There wasn't a lot of mystery really, it was mostly thriller.  The little bit of mystery kept me guessing until the reveal right at the end.  I was surprised that the one twist I was waiting for never showed up. So, maybe that was a twist in itself? I enjoyed Gina and Cal together.  Even thought their attraction was fast, it wasn't filled with a lot of angst. Their loves scene were some of the hottest ones I have seen this author write in a while.  I loved the part where Cal points out that how she acts is "you with me".  Such a sweet line.

Throwback Thursday: Her Best Friend's Lover by Shiloh Walker

Author: Shiloh Walker
First published in 2003 by Ellora's Cave

Dale Stoner loved women, and women seemed to love him right back. He danced around the line that led to seriousness, but any time one woman got too close, he two-stepped back, quick and pretty as you please. He’s fallen in love before and he doesn’t want to go that route again. No woman was ever going to get close to him again.

The only exception is his best friend, Lauren. She’s the only one who really matters. But she’s his friend…and guys don’t sleep with their best friends, do they?

Lauren wasn’t the kind of woman to believe in love at first sight, but then she met Dale. He’s everything she shouldn’t want—a flirt, a woman chaser…and he’s also in love with somebody else.

But one hot, steamy night changes everything…

I usually like this author's books, so I was eager to read this early one as it is being reissued this week in print and ebook form.  In Her Best Friend's Lover, Lauren has been in love with Dale for five years, but he has kept her in the friend zone.  He has never been able to get over his first love from high school.  One night changes everything for both of them.

Normally, I like friend's to lovers stories.  But, I had a hard time getting behind this one.  Their first time together Dale is totally drunk and doesn't remember who he slept with.  I thought it was a little icky that she cleaned up the evidence so that he would never know.  Then she finds out she is pregnant and keeps it from him.  Even after he realizes he loves her and marries her.  I'm not really a huge fan of secret baby story-lines in general.  I also never felt the connection between Dale and Lauren.  

This isn't a bad one, but it's not her best.  Her later stuff is much better.

Blog Tour: Book Spotlight for The Good Traitor by Ryan Quinn

The Good Traitor

by Ryan Quinn

on Tour April 5 - May 13, 2016

The US ambassador to China is killed in a suspicious plane crash just days after a news article links Chinese spies to US business interests. The American intelligence community is left scrambling to investigate possible connections between the crash and a series of other high-profile deaths. On the other side of the world, ex-CIA operative Kera Mersal returns to the United States determined to clear her name after being branded a traitor for exposing illegal government surveillance. There, former colleague and fellow fugitive J. D. Jones contacts her with a new assignment: find out who is staging accidents to murder news sources. As the news site continues to publish stories about top-secret CIA programs and Chinese government corruption, Mersal reunites with old allies to uncover the truth and prove her loyalty to her country once and for all. But Mersal’s investigations put her on the trail of a sinister hacker whose own motives may influence a vaster—and more deadly—geopolitical conspiracy than either of the world’s two largest superpowers is prepared to handle.

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller Published by: Thomas & Mercer Publication Date: April 5, 2016 Number of Pages: 334 ISBN: 978-1503954625 Purchase Links:

Author Bio:

A native of Alaska, Ryan Quinn was an NCAA champion and an all-American athlete in skiing while at the University of Utah. He worked for five years in New York’s book-publishing industry before moving to Los Angeles, where he writes and trains for marathons. Quinn’s first novel, The Fall, was an award-winning finalist for the 2013 International Book Awards.

For more, please visit:

Tour Participants:

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Join In:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours for Ryan Quinn. There will be 1 winners of 1 $10 Amazon.com US Gift card. The giveaway begins on April 5th and runs through May 13th, 2016.

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Spotlight: One Flew over the Banyan Tree by Alan Jansen

Author: Alan Jansen
Publisher: iUniverse
Date of publication: September 2015

How does a young boy find his way after his father loses a critical job and abandons his family in a small island town? In Alan Jansen’s stunning historical fiction debut, One Flew over the Banyan Tree, clever eleven-year-old Rohan grapples with this loss as he finds himself navigating a new world among a cast of colorful characters.

Set on the fictitious island of Victoria (resembling Post-Colonial Sri Lanka), One Flew over the Banyan Tree takes readers through a panoramic journey of life in the 1960s.

Centered on young Rohan through a memorable stay at his Grandmummy’s house in Jellicoe Junction, in One Flew Over the Banyan Tree readers meet loveable and unforgettable characters like Bellakay, the walking encyclopedia; Salgado, a droll glutton; Sonny, owner of the illegal dilapidated restaurant called Nameless; “breakfast-eaters” who enjoy a good session of camaraderie and banter at the illicit eatery; an anthropomorphic canine who ruminates on the human race; headless ghosts who hover above the town’s beloved banyan tree; and many other captivating personalities.

No longer belonging to a functional family, Rohan must come to terms with his transformation into an independent young boy during his surreal stay in impoverished Jellicoe Junction, a lively hub in the island’s capital city – Portopo. After experiencing many perspectives and personalities, will he learn to forgive and transcend — or will he blend into the pauperized place he’s found himself situated in?

The past comes alive in One Flew over the Banyan Tree as generational and class conflicts intensify in the wake of 1960’s counterculture. With great heart and humor, Jansen’s debut is a gripping exposition of the far-reaching impact of British colonization, the ongoing disparities of destitution, and one young boy’s navigation of divided loyalties and decisions that will change the course of his life forever.

In One Flew over the Banyan Tree, Jansen draws inspiration from the wit of O. Henry, the clandestine world-building of Roald Dahl, and the comical storytelling of P.G Wodehouse. This book is a delight for fans of historic fiction, those who enjoy deep character development, and anyone spellbound by the characteristics of post-colonialism.

One Flew Over the Banyan Tree is available via Amazon

About the Author:

Alan Jansen was born and raised in British Colonial Ceylon (later Sri Lanka). He studied at the renowned St. Joseph's College in Colombo and currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden after emigrating there as a young man. Giving up a long-time senior position in a Swedish telecom company, Alan decided to concentrate on a writing career. One Flew over the Banyan Tree is his first novel.

One Flew over the Banyan Tree [iUniverse] paperback is available at most online booksellers including Amazon, iUniverse, Adlibris, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, (Bowker),  Scribd, Chapters Indigo ca, etc, as of September 24, 2015. The e-book is also available at most of these and other online booksellers.


Website: www.alan-jansen-books.com

Blog Tour: The Decent Proposal by Kemper Donovan

Author: Kemper Donovan
Publisher: Harper
Date of publication; April 2016

A humorous, heartfelt love story built on a tantalizing premise: would you agree to spend two hours a week with a stranger—just talking—to collect half a million dollars at the end of a year?

Struggling Hollywood producer Richard is twenty-nine, hungover, and broke. Ridiculously handsome with an easy charm, he spends his days procrastinating at the Coffee Bean and nights hanging out with his best friend, Michaela, aka “Mike.”

At thirty-three, Elizabeth is on track to make partner at her law firm. Known as “La Máquina”—the Machine—to her colleagues, she’s grown used to a quiet, orderly life with no romantic entanglements of any kind. (Her closest friend is an old man who discusses Virginia Woolf with her at the beach. Enough said.)

Richard and Elizabeth have never met before, but their paths collide when they receive a proposal from a mysterious, anonymous benefactor: they’ll split a million dollars if they agree to spend at least two hours together every week for a year. Both are shocked and suspicious, and agree the idea is absurd, but after Richard anxiously considers the state of his bank account and Elizabeth carefully conducts a cost-benefit analysis of the situation, they agree to give it a try.

As these two perfect strangers wade awkwardly into the waters of modern courtship, discovering a shared affection for In-N-Out burgers, classic books, cult-hit movies, and various Los Angeles locales, they realize that uncovering the secret identity of their benefactor will not only make clear what connects them but change them both forever.

The Decent Proposal has interesting premise. Two random people are summoned to a lawyer's office and told that they will each get half a million dollars if they spend two hours every week talking face to face with each other.  Who would pass that up? In the end I liked the book, but didn't love it.  There were parts that did and didn't work for me.

As I said, I liked the overall premise of the book.  I liked how both Richard and Elizabeth ended up reading and discussing books together and watching movies as a way to fill the time.  It turns out is is actually hard to fill up two hours of conversation with a complete stranger. Their budding friendship is one I was eager to watch grow.

And there in lies the problem...I would have liked to see more of them together.  I ended up feeling in the end that the book spent more time with the two main characters and their outside relationships than it did with just the two of them.  There was supposed to be a love story, but I just didn't feel it. The ending left me wanting more.   I felt like Mike's and Orpheus's points of view didn't work for me in the story.  It was supposed to be about Elizabeth and Richard, not Mike's jealousy and feelings for Richard.

Don't get me wrong, it's an interesting read.  I liked the writing style and I loved Richard, I just wanted more of the story I thought I was getting.

About Kemper Donovan

Kemper Donovan has lived in Los Angeles for the past twelve years. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, he worked at the literary management company Circle of Confusion for a decade, representing screenwriters and comic books. He is also a member of the New York Bar Association.

Follow Kemper on Twitter.

Kemper’s Tour Stops

Wednesday, April 6th: Curling Up by the Fire

Thursday, April 7th: 5 Minutes For Books

Friday, April 8th: You Can Read Me Anything

Monday, April 11th: Book Hooked Blog

Tuesday, April 12th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, April 13th: she treads softly

Thursday, April 14th: A Bookish Way of Life

Monday, April 18th: Thoughts On This ‘n That

Tuesday, April 19th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Wednesday, April 20th: Literary Feline

Thursday, April 21st: Bibliotica

Monday, April 25th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Tuesday, April 26th: Lesa’s Book Critiques

Wednesday, April 27th: All Roads Lead to the Kitchen

Thursday, April 28th: Ms. Nose in a Book

Friday, April 29th: fangirl confessions

The Thickety: A Path Begins by J. A. White

Author: J.A.White
Publisher: Katherine Teagan Books
Date of publication: May 2014

Hand in hand, the witch's children walked down the empty road.

When Kara Westfall was six years old, her mother was convicted of the worst of all crimes: witchcraft. Years later, Kara and her little brother, Taff, are still shunned by the people of their village, who believe that nothing is more evil than magic . . . except, perhaps, the mysterious forest that covers nearly the entire island. It has many names, this place. Sometimes it is called the Dark Wood, or Sordyr's Realm. But mostly it's called the Thickety.

The black-leaved trees swayed toward Kara and then away, as though beckoning her.

The villagers live in fear of the Thickety and the terrible creatures that live there. But when an unusual bird lures Kara into the forbidden forest, she discovers a strange book with unspeakable powers. A book that might have belonged to her mother.

And that is just the beginning of the story.

I've had this book in my TBR for a while now.  I kind of wished that I had read it sooner.  The Thickety: A Path Begins is the first book in  this middle grade series.  In an unknown village, magic has been banned and deemed a crime.  To practice magic is to fall off the path.  Kara watched her mother hanged as a witch when she was almost 6.  She has spent the last 7 years taking care of her father and brother.  The town treats her as a pariah and is genuinely afraid that she will turn out to be like her mother.  

I did end up liking this book.  I thought it was dark and suspenseful and exactly what I would have loved when I was in 6th or 7th grade.  Kara is a great character.  She has grown up without a mother and has had the entire town bully her pretty much daily. Yet, she still pushes on and makes sure her father and brother are taken care of. The villains in the book are just evil enough without being too terrifying.  The story has some nice twists that kept it interesting. The only downside to the book is that it has a kind of cliffhanger ending.  Thankfully, I have the next book on hold so I can see how Kara and Taff fair in the Thickety.

I definitely recommend this one to lovers of darker middle grade books.  You won't be disappointed.