Showing posts with label summer read. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer read. Show all posts

6.28.2017

Review: Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave

Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave
Expected Publication: July 11, 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: via publisher
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis
Sunshine Mackenzie has it all…until her secrets come to light.

Sunshine Mackenzie is living the dream—she’s a culinary star with millions of fans, a line of #1 bestselling cookbooks, and a devoted husband happy to support her every endeavor.

And then she gets hacked.

When Sunshine’s secrets are revealed, her fall from grace is catastrophic. She loses the husband, her show, the fans, and her apartment. She’s forced to return to the childhood home—and the estranged sister—she’s tried hard to forget. But what Sunshine does amid the ashes of her own destruction may well save her life.

In a world where celebrity is a careful construct, Hello, Sunshine is a compelling, funny, and evocative novel about what it means to live an authentic life in an inauthentic age.

My Thoughts
I love the whole idea of having it all, only to be taken away to truly realize what is important in life. This is what happens to Sunshine Mackenzie who was plucked out of a bar and became the newest face of food tv. She became a food television star but ironically she can't cook to save her life. She is living the life until one day she is hacked and her whole world falls apart. After her career has fallen apart and her marriage quickly follows the same path she decides to go back home to her sister and niece to sort things out. Once there she tries to have a relationship with them both but it's hard when she hasn't been around in years. Sunshine is determined to pick herself back up but she also wants to know who was malice enough to rock her world and when she finally discovers who did it she can't believe it and neither could I!

In Hello Sunshine, Laura Dave gives us an easy breezy read that is perfect for the time and world we are living in. We live in a world where everyday people can become internet stars at the drop of a hat but can also be taken down just as quickly. This online world can be a wonderful and amazing thing but it also has its evil side that can make it easy for anyone to destroy the next person. However what I also loved was the storyline with her sister and niece. We see the one side of Sunshine that we know is real. We see her caring and wanting that relationship with them that she knows is more important than any money can buy. This is the quintessial beach read. It is engaging, funny and has heart. We see the journey of a person who got lucky in life but when it was taken away wanted to do things the right way. We see things come full circle and while it was a diffcuilt road it was one worth taking.

6.27.2017

Blog Tour: The Child by Fiona Barton

              THE CHILD
by Fiona Barton
Berkley Hardcover
On-Sale: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 9781101990483
$26.00


You can bury the story . . . but you can’t hide the truth


*One of Publishers Weekly and Bustle’s Most Anticipated Books of 2017*
*A TIME “Top 10” Summer Thriller*
*Pre-publication exclusives featured by Entertainment Weekly and theSkimm*
*Praise from Lee Child, Shari Lapena, and Clare Mackintosh *
*Starred Reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal*
*A June 2017 Library Reads Selection*

This summer FIONA BARTON is back with a second novel that proves lightning can strike twice.

Barton’s 2016 debut, The Widow, was an instant global bestseller, captivating readers around the world and setting the publishing industry abuzz.

The highly-anticipated release of THE CHILD (Berkley Hardcover; June 27, 2017) reaffirms Barton’s growing reputation as a writer of rich, character-driven suspense novels. Like Tana French, Louise Penny, and Megan Abbott, Barton’s stories do more than thrill: they explore the complexities of a changing world.

The Widow delved into the secrets that exist within a marriage and the reporter’s role as voyeur.  Here Barton continues to mine those themes. THE CHILD tackles the 24/7 news cycle, and lays bare the intricacies of a different but equally fascinating relationship—mother and child.

Says Barton: “The emotions, responsibilities—and the pain—of motherhood are unique to each of us with children. Ask any woman and she will have her own story to tell.”

In a working-class neighborhood of London, construction workers make a grisly discovery: the long-buried remains of a baby.  When a newspaper mention reveals the find, most readers barely give it a glance. But for two women, its threat to unearth hidden stories is impossible to ignore. For veteran reporter, Kate Waters (introduced in The Widow), it sparks the question “Who would bury a baby?” and starts a hunt for the truth about the nameless child. The story unfolds via the women’s alternating perspectives to eventually reveal: Who is Building Site Baby?

In fact, it was the allure of a hidden story that propelled Barton to her long-time career in news. A journalist and British Press Awards “Reporter of the Year,” she has worked at the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, and brings that experience to bear in her novels.

In THE CHILD she details how Kate’s lengthy investigation into Building Site Baby’s death represents a perilous breach of the newsroom’s new culture of 24/7 online news. Says Barton: “The danger for Kate is that she risks becoming one of the dinosaurs—sidelined because she is unable and unwilling to be part of the revolution. And I feel for her.”
Though THE CHILD delivers an evocative look at the changing face of journalism and a delicious plot twist, it is the characters’ haunting and rich emotional lives that set Barton apart and confirm her stature as a crime novelist of the first order.
Visit Fiona Barton online at fionabartonauthor.com and on Twitter @figbarton. Join the conversation using #TheChild.

6.26.2017

Review: Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica

Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica
Published: June 27, 2017
Publisher: Park Row Books
Format: via publisher
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis
"The bad man, Daddy. The bad man is after us."

Clara Solberg's world shatters when her husband and their four-year-old daughter are in a car crash, killing Nick while Maisie is remarkably unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident…until the coming days, when Maisie starts having night terrors that make Clara question what really happened on that fateful afternoon.

Tormented by grief and her obsession that Nick's death was far more than just an accident, Clara is plunged into a desperate hunt for the truth. Who would have wanted Nick dead? And, more important, why? Clara will stop at nothing to find out—and the truth is only the beginning of this twisted tale of secrets and deceit.

Told in the alternating perspectives of Clara's investigation and Nick's last months leading up to the crash, master of suspense Mary Kubica weaves her most chilling thriller to date—one that explores the dark recesses of a mind plagued by grief and shows that some secrets might be better left buried.

My Thoughts
Every Last Lie is another intriguing read by Mary Kubica. This one felt more rooted in real life and definitely could’ve happened to anyone. We met Clara who has just had a baby and is clueless to what is happening in her husband's job and life until the unthinkable happens and she is left a widow and with a daughter who was witness to her husband's horrible and tragic death.

Nick is a devoted husband and father who is building a career until he starts losing clients and with a client who is suing him he is slowing losing everything and doesn’t know how to tell his wife.

Told by Clara in the present and Nick in the past we slowly see the unweaving of the tale as to what happens and how Nick died. Was it just a horrible accident or was it something more sinister? More importantly, can Clara deal with all these secrets that she is learning about her husband and trying to deal with her children. This is classic Mary Kubica at her best. She always gives us intense and suspenseful storylines that never has us knowing what happens until the very end. This is another winner no doubt! 

6.20.2017

Spotlight/Excerpt: Lost and Found Sisters by Jill Shalvis

Lost and Found Sisters [Wildstone #1] by Jill Shalvis
Published: June 20, 2017
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

ABOUT LOST AND FOUND SISTERS
After losing her sister in a devastating car accident, chef Quinn Weller is finally getting her life back on track. She appears to have it all: a loving family, a dream job in one of L.A.'s hottest eateries, and a gorgeous boyfriend dying to slip an engagement ring on her finger. So why does she feel so empty, like she's looking for a missing piece she can't find? The answer comes when a lawyer tracks down Quinn and reveals a bombshell secret and a mysterious inheritance that only she can claim. This shocking revelation washes over Quinn like a tidal wave. Her whole life has been a lie.

On impulse, Quinn gives up her job, home, and boyfriend. She heads up the coast to the small town of Wildstone, California, which is just a few hours north, but feels worlds apart from Los Angeles. Though she doesn't quite fit in right away, she can't help but be drawn to the town’s simple pleasures. As Quinn settles into Wildstone, she discovers there's another surprise in store for her. The inheritance isn't a house or money, but rather something earthshattering, something that will make her question everything she thought she knew about herself, about her family. Now with a world of possibilities opening up to Quinn, she must decide if this new life is the one she was always meant to have—and the one that could finally give her the fulfillment she's searched so long for.

Excerpt
To Mick’s relief, he caught Quinn in the parking lot, leaning against her car, her thumbs moving furiously over the screen of her phone. When she saw him, she grimaced.
He lifted his hands and stayed out of her personal space. “Thought you could use a ride back to the B and B,” he said.
“I’m not driving.” She lifted her phone. “I’m trying to get an Uber.”
He smiled. “How’s that going?”
She sighed and slipped her phone into her pocket. “So Wildstone doesn’t have drive-throughs, Thai takeout, or Uber? Seriously?”
“We have other things.”
“Yes,” she said. “Ghosts. Big bugs. Cute dogs. And girlfriends, apparently.”
“Lena’s not my girlfriend,” he said. “She’s Boomer’s. Sort of.” He shook his head. “It’s complicated.”
She didn’t take her eyes off him. “But you’ve slept together.”
He arched a brow.
“I’m sorry,” she said, closing her eyes. “That was rude. There’s a chemistry there, and a familiarity, that’s all. You know what? Don’t listen to me. My tongue’s running the show and I think I’m just jealous at how everyone else seems to take life’s shit in stride and keep going. I haven’t learned that trick and I need to. And how to keep going, that is. Like the Energizer Bunny. Or my electric toothbrush. God.” She pressed her hands to her face. “I really need to stop talking. Make me stop talking!”
He took her hand and tugged her to his truck.
“Wait,” she said, putting a hand to his chest and fisting it in his shirt to hold him to her. “You’re not a murderer or a rapist or anything like that, right?”
He lifted a hand. “Scout’s honor.”
“Were you a Boy Scout?”
Laughing a little at that because he’d been just about the furthest thing from a Boy Scout, he gently pushed her into the passenger seat and leaned in to buckle her seat belt, and suddenly their faces were an inch from each other. He heard her suck in a breath and he did the same.
Talk about chemistry.
“Mick?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Are you feeling something?”
“You could say that,” he murmured. “You?”
She licked her lips and he nearly groaned. “I think so,” she whispered.
“That’s good.”
“Are you going to kiss me?”
He cupped her face, let his thumbs trace her jawbone, his fingers sinking into her silky waves. “No,” he said quietly. “And not because I don’t want to, but because when I do, I want to know you’re ready. That you’ll feel it.”
She sighed. “Guys do whatever they want all the time, no emotions necessary. I want that skill.” Another shaky breath escaped her, and since they were literally an inch apart, they shared air for a single heartbeat during which neither of them moved.
Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “Okay, so I’m definitely feeling things.” She hesitated and then her hands came up to his chest. “Maybe we should test it out to be sure.”
God, she was the sweetest temptation he’d ever met, and he wanted nothing more than to cover her mouth with his. Instead, he brushed his mouth to her cheek.
“Please, Mick,” she whispered, her exhale warming his throat. He loved the “please,” and he wanted to do just that more than anything. But when she tried to turn her head into his, to line up their mouths, he gently tightened his grip, dragging his mouth along her smooth skin instead, making his way to her ear.
“Not yet,” he whispered, letting his lips brush over her earlobe and the sensitive skin beneath it.
She moaned and clutched him. “Why not?”
It took every ounce of control he had to lift his head and meet her gaze. “Because I want to make sure you’re really with me, that you’re feeling everything I’m feeling. That there’ll be no doubt, no regrets.”
“You sure have a lot of requirements.”
He laughed. And she was right, it was all big talk for a guy who didn’t do relationships anymore. Still, he forced himself to step back and shut the passenger door.
As he rounded the hood to the driver’s side, he tried to remind himself of all the reasons she was a bad idea. He lived two hundred miles away and he was hoping to move his mom up by him and never come back here. Not to mention that Quinn lived an equal two hundred miles in the opposite direction and she was in a deeply vulnerable place. No way would he even think about taking advantage of that.
But when he slid behind the wheel and their eyes locked, he realized that while his mind could stand firm, the rest of his body wasn’t on board with the in-control program.

About Jill
New York Times bestselling author JILL SHALVIS lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.


Early praise for LOST AND FOUND SISTERS:
“Shalvis (“Heartbreaker Bay” & “Animal Magnetism” series) has crafted a wonderful summer read that will fit right in with beach blankets, flip-flops, and maybe a little moonshine.”
—Library Journal, http://www.publishersweekly.com/images/reviews-star-19b.pngstarred review

“The love story you need to read this summer isn't what you expect: it's about the love between sisters. Jill Shalvis has written something totally different for your beach read this year — and you're going to love it.
—Bustle

“Part women’s fiction, part contemporary romance, the latest from Shalvis equals one wholly endearing novel. Humor lurks around other corners too, nicely balancing the heartwarming story about the bond between sisters. Humor, heart and heat make for a great combination!”
—RT Book Reviews, 4 stars

“This is a story of a woman whose foundations are shattered, and who finds that the self she builds on their ruins is better than she could have imagined. It’s a quiet story of survival, resilience, hope, and family, and how finding your true self is the most rewarding journey of all. I’d recommend Lost and Found Sisters to anyone who likes Ms. Shalvis’ signature snark and sass (they are both in abundance here) and her ability to create distinctive worlds.”
—All About Romance

”Readers will be utterly charmed by Shalvis’ latest, and will be eager to visit Wildstone again.”
— Bookish

“I love everything about this book, the family dynamics, the humor and the amazing romance. Just amazing!”
—Lori Foster, New York Times Bestselling Author

6.13.2017

Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published: June 13, 2017
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis
Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds through the decades—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Filled with emotional insight and written with Reid’s signature talent, this is a fascinating journey through the splendor of Old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means—and what it takes—to face the truth.

My Thoughts
Another winner from Taylor Jenkins Reid! What can I say I love everything she has written but this one, while a little different from her previous novels is simply perfection! In The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo we see Evelyn’s life is she tells it to an up & comer in the publishing world. Monique is hand picked by Evelyn to write her biography which sets up the secondary story as to who is Monique when it comes to Evelyn. Why would Evelyn pick and trust an unknown with her life story? As the story plays out we do eventually find out and I was shocked which I loved since I’m hardly surprised nowadays.

The real gem is the life that Evelyn has lead and it is told to us through each of her seven marriages and all the hard work and hardships that she went through. We see how she was determined to make something of herself even if it meant doing things she never wanted to do. We relive the heyday of 50’s Hollywood glam and Evelyn using everything she has to get want she wants. While she was married seven times she was never able to marry her one true love, and that was Evelyn’s one regret in life, that she wasn’t able to live and love as freely as she wanted. We learn some surprising secrets, ones that wouldn’t be such a big deal these days but back then it would’ve ended her career and maybe even her life.

I got swept up with this amazing tale of a woman who only wanted to love her true love and continue to do what she was meant to do. I loved that Evelyn was a strong hard headed woman who at the time when men ruled the entertainment world knew how she wanted her life and career to go and made it happened. The juxtapose between Evelyn and Monique plays out as the book goes on showing us they are more alike that we know, and how they both give each other what the other one's needs.

This is one helluva book that is Reid’s most ambitious book to date. She nailed the old Hollywood glam era and of course, she always delivers when it comes to relationships and that wonderful thing called love. I love that she never makes love simple or uncomplicated, it's always hard and ugly which is part is real…that is how love is. She writes of a love that one longs for…true real love and she nails it here. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a novel that I highly recommend!

6.12.2017

Review: The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand
Published: June 13, 2017
Publisher: Little Brown and Co.
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis
Nantucket is only two and a half hours away from Martha's Vineyard by ferry. But the two islands might as well be worlds apart for a set of identical twin sisters who have been at odds for years. Just because twins look exactly the same doesn't mean they're anything alike--and Tabitha and Harper Frost have spent their whole lives trying to prove this point. When a family crisis forces them to band together--or at least appear to--the twins come to realize that the special bond that they share is more important than the resentments that have driven them apart. A story of new loves, old battles, and a threat that gives a whole new meaning to the term sibling rivalry, THE IDENTICALS is Elin Hilderbrand at her page-turning best.

My Thoughts
I look forward to the summer for the simple pleasure of knowing I will be blessed with an Elin Hilderbrand novel and this one is my favorite by far. In the Identicals, we meet identical sisters Tabitha and Harper who couldn’t be more opposite. When their parents got divorced they decided to split the sisters and when they couldn’t decide who would go with whom, they play rock paper scissors to decide their fate. Tabitha grew up with a fashion designer mother who likes the finer things in life and who only wanted the best things in life. Harper grew up with her father who leads a simple life, so different from her mother and sister. While they only lived a ferry ride away both sisters had no contact with each other for years after the death of Tabitha’s son.

After their father has died Tabitha and her mother along with her daughter make the trek to pay their respects and say goodbye, while there we find out that Harper has a boyfriend and also has been having an affair with her father's doctor. When her affair is exposed and her world tumbling down around her she decides she needs to leave. When an accident happens and she receives a call that her sister needs her help she soon goes to be with her niece. What happens next is a series of secrets as to why they aren’t close and how this has torn them apart as sisters and as a family.

I love nothing more than a story that centers around family especially those evolving sisters. The dynamics and emotions that are exposed are amazing. We see how each sister’s life might have been if each had been with the other parent and how their lives could’ve been totally different. However what I loved most were the sisters themselves and how old emotions needed to be brought back to the surface and finally settled. We see how those long ago feelings suffocated both of them and their ability to forgive and move on. This novel was wonderfully written and it made me laugh and cry. The sisters as much as they claimed to be different they were indeed very much alike. In the end, all they wanted was love. Love from others, their parents and especially from each other, through everything in the end they truly got what they have been searching for. I highly recommend this stunning read and it’s a must have on every summer reading list.

5.24.2017

Review: The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green

The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green
Published: June 6, 2017
Publisher: Berkley
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis
Ronni Sunshine left London for Hollywood to become a beautiful, charismatic star of the silver screen. But at home, she was a narcissistic, disinterested mother who alienated her three daughters.

As soon as possible, tomboy Nell fled her mother's overbearing presence to work on a farm and find her own way in the world as a single mother. The target of her mother's criticism, Meredith never felt good enough, thin enough, pretty enough. Her life took her to London and into the arms of a man whom she may not even love. And Lizzy, the youngest, more like Ronni than any of them, seemed to have it easy, using her drive and ambition to build a culinary career to rival her mother's fame, while her marriage crumbled around her.

But now the Sunshine Girls are together again, called home by Ronni, who has learned that she has a serious disease and needs her daughters to fulfill her final wishes. And though Nell, Meredith, and Lizzy are all going through crises of their own, their mother's illness draws them together to confront old jealousies and secret fears and they discover that blood might be thicker than water after all.

My Thoughts
Hands down this is my favorite Jane Green book! This story of Ronni Sunshine and her three daughters was touching, funny and thoroughly enjoyable. We meet Ronni who is an actress as she tries her hardest to make it in the industry. From the very start, she chooses her career over her family including her three daughters whom each have their issues with her.

We get to know the Sunshine Sisters through the years but the storyline comes to life when they are summoned back home by their mother who has some bad news for them. Ronni is terminally ill and wants them there so she can take her life on her terms and most importantly she wants her daughters to reconnect after years of estrangement. Nell, Meredith, and Lizzie hadn’t ever been close not even growing up so when they all come back home it’s a little awkward, to say the least. All have problems in their lives but as soon as they are together they slowly reconnect like never before.

What I loved most is that this story is all about family. The relationship with their mother was a hard one, one that definitely shaped their future, especially on how they viewed themselves. It's really hard to have the self-love and confidence in yourself if the one person who should’ve given you that from day one never did. While I felt for Ronni, her illness and death did bring her daughters together in a way I don’t think they would’ve otherwise. Each one's story comes full circle and each finally finds the peace and love they deserved their entire lives. I found myself laughing and crying, which to me is the sign of a truly amazing book!

7.22.2015

Wow [131]

Waiting on Wednesday [WoW] is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Summer at Hideaway Key by Barbara Davis
Expected Publication: August 4, 2015
Publisher: NAL

Synopsis
Pragmatic, independent Lily St. Claire has never been a beachgoer. But when her late father leaves her a small house on Hideaway Key—one neither her mother nor she knew he owned—she’s determined to visit the sleepy spit of land along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Expecting a quaint cottage, Lily instead finds a bungalow with peeling shutters and mountains of memorabilia. She also catches a glimpse of the architect who lives down the beach….

But it’s the carton of old journals in the front room that she finds most intriguing. The journals were written by her mother’s sister, an infamous beauty whose name has long been banned from the St. Claire home. The journals tell a family tale Lily has never heard, of her mother and her aunt as young girls in Tennessee and the secrets that followed them into adulthood. As she reads, Lily gains a new understanding: about her family and about herself. And she begins to open her heart—to this place, these people, and the man next door. But can she ever truly learn to trust, to believe that love is not a trap but a harbor? And is it true that hearts, even broken ones, can be forged anew?

Why I Can’t Wait
This sounds like a perfect read to end the summer. I love a book with a little mystery and this one sounds like it perfectly fits the bill.

Feel free to link me to yours.

6.15.2015

The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry

The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry
Expected Publication: June 23, 2015
Format: via NetGalley
Challenges: 2015 NetGalley/Edelweiss
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis
Ella's life has been completely upended. She's young, beautiful, and deeply in love—until her husband dies in a tragic sailing accident while trying save her. Or so she'll have everyone believe. Screenwriter Hunter needs a hit, but crippling writers' block and a serious lack of motivation are getting him nowhere. He's on the look-out for a love story. It doesn't matter who it belongs to.

When Hunter and Ella meet in Watersend, South Carolina it feels like the perfect match, something close to fate. In Ella, Hunter finds the perfect love story, full of longing and sacrifice. It's the stuff of epic films. In Hunter, Ella finds possibility. It's an opportunity to live out a fantasy – the life she wishes she had because hers is too painful. And more real. Besides. What’s a little white lie between strangers? But one lie leads to another, and soon Hunter and Ella find themselves caught in a web of deceit. As they try to untangle their lies and reclaim their own lives, they feel something stronger is keeping them together. And so they wonder: can two people come together for all the wrong reasons and still make it right?

My Thoughts
The Idea of Love is a fun look at love through two people who initially lie about who they are. Ella is trying to recover from the shocking truth that her husband is having an affair with her best friend’s sister. She feels betrayed by her husband and friend and is heartbroken that no one told her the truth. Then she meets Hunter who isn’t very truthful either when it comes to who he really is and what he is really doing there in town.

Hunter isn’t really a tourist in town but in fact a screenwriter and is in search of a new movie idea. He meets Ella and thinks her story of being a widow and how her husband died is a tragic love story, just what he is looking for to make it to the big screen. Little does he know her "story" isn't what it seems. However the lies are soon exposed and feelings are hurt but can love real love and feelings be stronger than all the lies? Can they make it past everything and start something real once the truth is revealed? Can love really conquer all? Overall I really enjoyed this read it was funny and I loved the characters, even though both lied about who they were I felt both never did it to be mean or hurtful. In my opinion I felt they were just putting up walls, protecting themselves from getting hurt again.

This is a quick love story that is a bit unconventional but one that delivers all the romance that one would expect from a great read. This makes a great summer read, it’s the perfect escape on a hot summer day.

6.11.2015

Review: The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand
Expected Publication: June 16, 2015
Format: NetGalley & Audio Book via Hachette Audio
Publisher: Little Brown & Co.
Challenges: 2015 NG/EW and 2015 Audio
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis
Nantucket writer Madeline King couldn't have picked a worse time to have writer's block. Her deadline is looming, her bills are piling up, and inspiration is in short supply. Madeline's best friend Grace is hard at work transforming her garden into the envy of the island with the help of a ruggedly handsome landscape architect. Before she realizes it, Grace is on the verge of a decision that will irrevocably change her life. Could Grace's crisis be Madeline's salvation? As the gossip escalates, and the summer's explosive events come to a head, Grace and Madeline try desperately to set the record straight--but the truth might be even worse than rumor has it.

My Thoughts
First things first I love Elin Hilderbrand’s books! It’s not summer unless I read a book by her. The Rumor is everything a summer read should be. This one focuses on a set of friends Madeline and Grace who with their families are the subjects of rumors around town. However at times the truth is way worse than any rumor could ever be.

Madeline is a writer and she must come up with a draft or return her advance. She is suffering from major writers block but when her best friend Grace confesses to her she is having an affair she decides to use that as her book. Meanwhile as Grace is falling in love with a man who isn’t her husband, her husband is in serious financial trouble. Blind to the fact she must decide if she wants to leave her husband or follow her heart. The towns folk start rumors about Madeline and how they think she is the one having the affair with someone is close to her, they have no clue on how wrong they have it. When these rumors come to the surface and she is in danger of losing her family and friendship once Grace discovers she is writing her story for the whole world to know. I also love the second storyline that of their children. We get to see the children’s aspect of their lives and how they see their parents.

This book continues Elin Hilderbrand’s reign as the queen of the summer reads. It has everything that makes a great book, gossip lies love and relationships. We get to see how others might perceive us and then how things really are. Anyone can be a victim of rumors but its how we deal with them that really shows us what kind of person we are. This is definitely one I recommend everyone to read this summer, do yourself a favor and read this you will be highly entertained.

5.29.2015

Review: The Lake Season by Hannah McKinnon

The Lake Season by Hannah McKinnon
Expected Publication: June 2, 2015
Publisher: Atria Books
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis
Iris Standish has always been the responsible sister: the one who studied hard, settled down, and always made the right choices—even when they came at the expense of her passions. Meanwhile, her sister Leah dropped out of college to “find herself” by hiking through Yellowstone and switches jobs nearly as often as she switches lovers, leaving Iris to pick up the pieces in her wake.

But now Iris’s life is coming apart at the seams, and when Leah calls her back to their childhood home with a desperate cry for help, she is thrust headfirst into preparations for her sister’s wedding to a man their New Hampshire clan has never met…with her own marriage and family on the brink. Still, despite the rush of dress fittings, floral arrangements, and rehearsal dinners, Iris is learning to put herself first. And amid a backdrop of late-night swims and a soul-restoring barn renovation comes Cooper Woods, a high school crush who beckons with the promise of a new start.

While Leah faces a past that has finally caught up to her, Iris prepares to say goodbye to a future that is suddenly far from certain. As Hampstead Lake shimmers in the background, Iris must decide when to wade in cautiously and when to dive—and, ultimately, how to ferry herself to safe harbors.

My Thoughts
The Lake Season is the story of Iris whose husband tells her he wants a divorce and is seeing someone. Needing a break from everything and everyone she decides to go back home to help her younger sister prepare for her upcoming wedding. Iris has always been the good one she has always done what is asked of her so when her life is falling down around her she for once in her life does what she wants. So when she meets up with an old high school crush Cooper she decides to enjoy her time at her parents’ farm and her time with him. Over time they become close and fall in love both not knowing if it will last longer than just the summer. However not everything is fun and care free Iris is worried about her sister Leah who is dealing with problems that Iris has no idea about.

Leah was Iris’s polar opposite. She was popular, everyone loved her and she was care free yet Iris noticed something different about her sister from the get go. She was having emotional mood swings and then she also noticed how everyone seemed to handle her with kid gloves. Everyone told her it was just wedding jitters but Iris knew it was something much more than that. I won’t spoil anything but I will say it definitely wasn’t jitters. Leah’s problems were much more serious and once she tells the truth only then can she heal.

While I enjoyed both stories I loved Iris’s story the most. I just felt she came into her own. She always thought of others first but in that summer she for once put herself first and learned who she was, who she wanted to be and most importantly how she wanted the next phase of her life to be. The Lake Season is about hope, finding your true self and inner peace. Allowing yourself to take care of your needs and being truly happy. This is a must have for any beach bag this summer.

5.11.2015

Review: The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer

The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer
Published: May 12, 2015
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Format: via Edelweiss
Challenges: 2015 NG/EW
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis
Sensible thirty-six-year-old Sophie Anderson has always known what to do. She knows her role in life: supportive wife of a successful architect and calm, capable mother of two. But on a warm summer night, as the house grows quiet around her and her children fall asleep, she wonders what’s missing from her life. When her husband echoes that lonely question, announcing that he’s leaving her for another woman, Sophie realizes she has no idea what’s next. Impulsively renting a guest cottage on Nantucket from her friend Susie Swenson, Sophie rounds up her kids, Jonah and Lacey, and leaves Boston for a quiet family vacation, minus one.

Also minus one is Trevor Black, a software entrepreneur who has recently lost his wife. Trevor is the last person to imagine himself, age thirty and on his own, raising a little boy like Leo—smart and sweet, but grappling constantly with his mother’s death, growing more and more closed off. Hoping a quiet summer on the Nantucket coast will help him reconnect with Leo, Trevor rents a guest house on the beautiful island from his friend Ivan Swenson.

Best-laid plans run awry when Sophie and Trevor realize they’ve mistakenly rented the same house. Still, determined to make this a summer their kids will always remember, the two agree to share the Swensons’ Nantucket house. But as the summer unfolds and the families grow close, Sophie and Trevor must ask themselves if the guest cottage is all they want to share.

My Thoughts
Sophie is blown away when her husband tells her he wants a divorce. She has always been a devoted wife and mother but when the news hits her she decides she wants time for herself and her kids, a summer of fun and relaxation for once without thinking of her husband first and their troubles at home. Due to a mix up she finds herself sharing a beach house with Trevor. Trevor whose eccentric wife has just died finds himself at the beach house trying to console his young son and his feelings about his mom. Two different people with two different sets of parenting come together seamlessly. From the start both just to fit together so well that you can’t help but want to see them get together.

I like how we see them deal with each other and their problems instead of sweeping them under the rug. They help each other where the one is weak the other is strong, building the ultimate friendship that is a must in any relationship but of course nothing goes off easy. There are problems they have to deal with, his… how will his son react…hers she still is married and does she want to start something so serious so soon plus she has  issues with the age gap…it’s only like 4 years [GET OVER IT Sophie!]

I have been a huge fan of Nancy Thayer for a while now but I must say this one is my favorites by a long shot. The characters are wonderful, the storyline is amazing and I just felt this was a complete and rich story and I couldn’t ask for anything more. This is a MUST summer read!