Virtual Tour: Leave the Night On by Laura Trentham

Love, betrayal, and sweet revenge--

life in Cottonbloom is about to get a whole lot hotter . . .

LEAVE THE NIGHT ON

Cottonbloom #4

Laura Trentham

Releasing Aug 1, 2017

St. Martin's Press

Love, betrayal, and sweet revenge--life in Cottonbloom is about to get a whole lot hotter . . .

Sutton Mize is known for lavishing attention on the customers who flock to her boutique on the wealthy side of her Mississippi town. So when she finds a lace thong in her fiance's classic cherry-red Camaro, she knows just who she sold it to: her own best friend. In an instant, Sutton's whole world goes up in flames. . .

Wyatt Abbott has harbored a crush on Sutton since he was a young kid from the other side of the tracks. He witnessed Sutton's shocking discovery in the Camaro at his family-owned garage--and it made him angry. What kind of man could take lovely, gorgeous Sutton for granted? But then Sutton comes up with an idea: Why not give her betrothed a taste of his own medicine and pretend that she's got a lover of her own? Wyatt is more than happy to play the hot-and-heavy boyfriend. But what begins as a fictional affair soon develops into something more real, and more passionate, than either Sutton or Wyatt could have imagined. Could it be that true love has been waiting under the hood all along? 

Excerpt

“Can I ask you a question? Something serious?” Sutton asked.

“Alright,” Wyatt said cautiously.

“Do you find me doable?”

His hand jerked on the steering wheel and sent the car skidding on the shoulder before he righted it. “Do I what?”

“Find me doable? Because that no-necked bouncer and those two brothers did.”

He choked on a gulp of air. What was happening? Had he crossed the river into the Twilight Zone instead of into Mississippi?

Her voice was as bland and conversational as if discussing commodity cotton prices. “Because I find you doable. Very, very, very, very doable.”

Her string of “verys” slurred together. She was drunk, which meant her thinking was impaired. Or . . . he glanced at her. Maybe, just maybe, the whiskey had stripped away her social niceties like turpentine to peeling paint, and she was being honest.

The woman had been put through the wringer by her best friend and her fiancé. Despite her wishes otherwise, she was nice. And sweet. And cute. And unbearably sexy in a way she didn’t even understand. Not yet anyway.

No way could he let this opportunity to be with her in whatever way possible slip through his fingers. While the ramifications went on repeat in his head, she slipped out of the car and headed to her door.

He rolled down his window and shimmed half-way out to see her over the top. “Hey, Sutton!”

She turned with only a slight wobble, jutted a hip, and set her hand on it. “What?”

“For the record, I find you extremely doable.”

An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although, she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years.

She writes sexy, small town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. The first two books of her Falcon Football series were named Top Picks by RT Book Reviews magazine. Then He Kissed Me, a Cottonbloom novel, was named as one of Amazon’s best romances of 2016. When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she's shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as large as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.

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Cover Reveal: Ugly Beautiful Girl by Tracy Krimmer

Today is the cover reveal for Ugly Beautiful Girl by Tracy Krimmer. This cover reveal is organized by Lola's Blog Tours.

Ugly Beautiful Girl by Tracy Krimmer

Genre: Coming of Age/ Contemporary Romance

Age category: New Adult

Release Date: September 27, 2017

Blurb:

Nerd. Weird. Ugly. That's me. And I don't want it to be anymore.

Now is my time to make my mark on the world. My college roommate doesn't make it easy. Neither does her brother, Jesse, but for completely different reasons. He makes me feel things I've never felt before.

Wanted. Important. Beautiful.

But we can't be together because it isn't real. Someone like him could never fall for someone like me. We aren't meant to fit together.

Even if I fall apart without him.

You can find Ugly Beautiful Girl on Goodreads

You can pre-order Ugly Beautiful Girl here on Amazon

Ugly Beautiful Girl will be available on Kindle Unlimited

        About the Author:
Tracy's love of writing began at nine years old. She wrote stories about aliens at school, machines that did homework for you, and penguins. Now she pens books and short stories about romance. She loves to read a great book, whether it be romance or science fiction, or any genre in between, or pop popcorn and catch up on her favorite TV shows or movies. She's been known to crush a candy or two as well. Her loves include fitness, reading, coffee, dogs, and naps (not in that order), and her dislikes are blue cheese, cold weather, and burpees.

You can find and contact Tracy here:

- Website

- Twitter

- Facebook

- Goodreads

- Amazon

- Bookbub

- Instagram

- Newsletter

Mini Review: Mrs. Saint and the Defectives by Julie Lawson Timmer

Mrs. Saint and the Defectives by Julie Lawson Timmer

Published: August 1, 2017

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Markie, a fortysomething divorcée who has suffered a humiliating and very public fall from marital, financial, and professional grace, moves, along with her teenage son, Jesse, to a new town, hoping to lick her wounds in private. But Markie and Jesse are unable to escape the attention of their new neighbor Mrs. Saint, an irascible, elderly New European woman who takes it upon herself, along with her ragtag group of “defectives,” to identify and fix the flaws in those around her, whether they want her to or not.

What Markie doesn’t realize is that Mrs. Saint has big plans for the divorcée’s broken spirit. Soon, the quirky yet endearing woman recruits Markie to join her eccentric community, a world where both hidden truths and hope unite them. But when Mrs. Saint’s own secrets threaten to unravel their fragile web of healing, it’s up to Markie to mend these wounds and usher in a new era for the “defectives”—one full of second chances and happiness.

My Thoughts

In Mrs. Saints and the Defectives, we met Markie who has decided to move to another town after a humiliating divorce with her son and is trying to pick her life back together and moving on. She decides she will move and keep to herself to lick her wounds but soon she realizes that nothing beats neighbors, most notably Mrs. Saint, who want to care and soon friendships blossom and Markie is richer than she ever realizes.

What I loved most about this novel is…well, everything! I loved the quirky neighbors and how they rally together to pull Markie out of her funk. I enjoyed how though Markie had everything in her previous life she now sees how much more she has since her fall from grace. She realizes that money isn’t everything and how friendships and people truly caring about you is worth more than anything in the world. This is truly a gem of a story one that is a pleasure to read and demands to shared with everyone.  

Review: The Secret History of Us by Jessi Kirby

The Secret History of Us by Jessi Kirby

Published: August 1, 2017

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: via Edelweiss

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

When Olivia awakes in a hospital bed following a car accident that almost took her life, she can’t remember the details about how she got there. She figures the fog is just a symptom of being in a week-long coma, but as time goes on, she realizes she’s lost more than just the last several days of her life—she’s lost her memory of the last four years. Gone is any recollection of starting or graduating high school; the prom; or her steady boyfriend Matt. Trying to figure out who she is feels impossible when everyone keeps telling her who she was.

As Liv tries to block out what her family and friends say about who she used to be, the one person she hasn’t heard enough from is Walker, the guy who saved her the night her car was knocked off that bridge into the bay below. Walker is the hardened boy who’s been keeping his distance—and the only person Olivia inexplicably feels herself with. With her feelings growing for Walker, tensions rising with Matt, and secrets she can’t help but feel are being kept from her, Olivia must find her place in a life she doesn’t remember living.

My Thoughts

The Secret History of Us follows Olivia as she wakes up from a coma after a terrible car accident. She finds out she doesn’t remember the last four years of her life. When she finally goes home she not only has to try and get over her injuries she’s also trying to find out who exactly she is. Her family and friends including a boyfriend she doesn’t remember let alone has feelings for, try and tell her how she was before but nothing feels right until a boy named Walker enters the picture. Walker not only saved Olivia she feels that there is something more there, she just has to piece everything together to try and find out what exactly that is. She feels this connection to him that she can't explain but doesn’t want to rush into anything. Olivia must find a way to live in a world she doesn’t remember.

I really enjoyed this novel it’s to date my favorite Jessi Kirby read. I love the storyline and I loved how Olivia stood up for herself and didn’t just buy into everything people were telling her. She didn’t just fall back into the life or way they told her she lived and was. She knew she wanted to know what happened but also knew she couldn’t just do and be the person they wanted her to be, she needed to find a place that was comfortable for her in the now.

This is a wonderfully written novel about second chances and standing up for yourself. It’s all about finding your true self even if it meant letting go of who you were before. While there is a dash of romance this read wasn’t all about that, it was about loving and healing yourself and sometimes that has to happen before you can focus on anyone or anything else.

Monthly Wrap Up: July

Hi! I’m hoping everyone is having an amazing and relaxing summer so far. I’m so excited because I can feel football in the air! As a Texan, this is the time of year we live for so I’m getting ready. This month book wise was pretty good I read some great books and I found some awesome podcasts that I’ve been listening to.  So here is how my July looked book and other wise.

Books Read

 38. I’ll Be Waiting – Michelle Ziegler

  37. Any Other Way – Michelle Ziegler

  36. The Secret History of Us – Jessi Kirby

  35. Girl in Snow – Danya Kukafka

  34. Under the Mistletoe – J. Parker

* 33. The Lying Game – Ruth Ware

  32. When We Fell in Love – Eileen Cruz Coleman

*=Super Faves

Books Received via Publishers

Seeing Red - Sandra Brown

The Party - Elizabeth Day

Best Intentions - Erika Raskin

Careers for Women - Joanna Scott

Beautiful Bodies - Kimberly Rae Miller

Thank you so much to these amazing publishers:

Grand Central, Little Brown and Co, St. Martin's Press and Little A

Arcs via NetGalley/Edelweiss

Bring Her Home – David Bell

Manhattan Beach – Jennifer Egan

Poison – Galt Niederhoffer

Summer Hours at the Robbins Library – Sue Halpern

I’ll Be Your Blue Sky – Marisa De Los Santos

The Best Kind of People – Zoe Whittall

Purchases

Camino Island – John Grisham

Podcasts

I’ve always been into podcasts I love them! I mainly listen to football related ones and books of course but here are a few I’ve recently been into. I give credit to Sarah @ Sarah's Bookshelves for these fabulous recs!

Reading Glasses

Just the Right Book

From the Front Porch

 Upcoming Reads

Bring Her Home – David Bell

The Best Kind of People – Zoe Whittall

Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng

Well, that’s my month how was yours? Please feel free to link up yours I love to see all things bookish!

Review: Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

Expected Publication: August 1, 2017

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Format: via NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Who Are You When No One Is Watching?

When a beloved high schooler named Lucinda Hayes is found murdered, no one in her sleepy Colorado suburb is untouched—not the boy who loved her too much; not the girl who wanted her perfect life; not the officer assigned to investigate her murder. In the aftermath of the tragedy, these three indelible characters—Cameron, Jade, and Russ—must each confront their darkest secrets in an effort to find solace, the truth, or both.

In crystalline prose, Danya Kukafka offers a brilliant exploration of identity and of the razor-sharp line between love and obsession, between watching and seeing, between truth and memory.

My Thoughts

Girl in Snow is an intriguing and creepy [in a good way] novel about a girl named Lucinda who is found murdered and trying to find out who did this to her. There are three people who are the book focuses on Cameron who is obsessed with Lucinda, Jade who lost her childhood friend to Lucinda when he fell in her love with her and Russ who is one of the officers on the case who may be related to someone who might be evolved.

Told in alternating chapters we see how each one is touched by Lucinda in some way, shape or form. As we get to know each character we find these dark secrets that each holds and how it is possible that any of them could know something about Lucinda’s past and her murder.

I found this story original and yes creepy! But creepy in the way that’s so suspenseful and definitely keeps you on your toes. There was never a dull moment and you kept getting secrets and twist and turns thrown at you that you couldn’t keep up. I love that you didn’t find out the truth until the very end and I was surprised, which is nice since most of the time I can figure out things rather quickly! This is one novel that I think is worth the read!

Virtual Tour: The Dress in the Window by Sofia Grant

A perfect debut novel is like a perfect dress—it’s a “must have” 

and when you “try it on” it fits perfectly. 

THE DRESS IN THE WINDOW

Sofia Grant

Releasing July 25, 2017

William Morrow

A perfect debut novel is like a perfect dress—it’s a “must have” and when you “try it on” it fits perfectly. In this richly patterned story of sisterhood, ambition, and reinvention Sofia Grant has created a story just right for fans of Vintage and The Dress Shop of Dreams.

World War II has ended and American women are shedding their old clothes for the gorgeous new styles. Voluminous layers of taffeta and tulle, wasp waists, and beautiful color—all so welcome after years of sensible styles and strict rationing. 

Jeanne Brink and her sister Peggy both had to weather every tragedy the war had to offer—Peggy now a widowed mother, Jeanne without the fiancé she’d counted on, both living with Peggy’s mother-in-law in a grim mill town.  But despite their grey pasts they long for a bright future—Jeanne by creating stunning dresses for her clients with the help of her sister Peggy’s brilliant sketches.

Together, they combine forces to create amazing fashions and a more prosperous life than they’d ever dreamed of before the war. But sisterly love can sometimes turn into sibling jealousy. Always playing second fiddle to her sister, Peggy yearns to make her own mark. But as they soon discover, the future is never without its surprises, ones that have the potential to make—or break—their dreams.

Excerpt: Peggy

It was well past time to turn out the light and get some sleep, but Peggy didn’t set the square black Conté crayon down. She took a dainty sip of the bitter, cold coffee left over from the morning—yesterday morning, to be accurate, since it was nearly one-thirty—and made a bold, broad stroke down a fresh piece of newsprint. The piece of wood she’d rigged as an easel—taken from a cabinet face from a building being torn down around the corner—shifted on the bolster on which Peggy had propped it. Too bad they didn’t know any carpenters who might make her a real easel, Peggy thought grimly. Too bad they didn’t know any useful men at all.

On her little mattress not three feet away, Tommie shifted and rolled, her rosette lips pursed. She was a restless sleeper, as she had been a restless baby—she’d

come into the world uneasy, as though she knew already that she’d be denied a father, denied the perfect charmed life that Peggy had promised her many months earlier, when she’d first made her presence known on a prodigious wave of nausea, harbinger of the difficult pregnancy to come.

No, nothing about Tommie was easy, and sharing a room with her—and yes, Peggy knew she was lucky to have a room at all, with her sister making up a bed each night in the freezing attic—was a daily torment.

Another curving black stroke of the crayon, to meet the first. In those two lines were the suggestion of the back, the shoulders, the curve of the hip. Peggy glanced at the latest issue of Vogue, open to a spread titled “The New Blouse-and-Skirt Formula,” featuring full-circle skirts nipped in tight over balloon-sleeved blouses. The first wave of outrage over Dior’s new look seemed to have abated, silenced, perhaps, by the unstoppable tide of women hungry for a bit of glamour. Peggy could sympathize. The wartime fashions, made severe and scant by textile regulations dictated by the War Production Board—had looked all right on angular, thin women like her sister. But on curvy Peggy, they looked downright ridiculous.

She sketched soft, feathery strokes to suggest a full skirt like the one in the Vogue layout. Underneath the skirt, there would be structured layers of tulle to give it shape, but her drawing would only show the fanciful outline, like a bell, with satin pumps peeping from the bottom. Peggy could wear such a skirt—if she had anywhere to go. She had retained her small waist even after Tommie’s birth, and her bosom remained high and generous. She was still making do with her corset from two years ago, but if she could afford one of the new French-waisted ones, with the tabs that could be cinched tightly.

Sofia Grant has the heart of a homemaker, the curiosity of a cat, and the keen eye of a scout. She works from an urban aerie in Oakland, California.

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