Review: The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

Published: July 9, 2019

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co

Format: via NetGalley

Rating:4/5

Synopsis

In the summer of 1987, 25-year-old Eve Rosen is an aspiring writer languishing in a low-level assistant job, unable to shake the shadow of growing up with her brilliant brother. With her professional ambitions floundering, Eve jumps at the chance to attend an early summer gathering at the Cape Cod home of famed New Yorker writer Henry Grey and his poet wife, Tillie. Dazzled by the guests and her burgeoning crush on the hosts’ artistic son, Eve lands a new job as Henry Grey’s research assistant and an invitation to Henry and Tillie’s exclusive and famed "Book Party"— where attendees dress as literary characters. But by the night of the party, Eve discovers uncomfortable truths about her summer entanglements and understands that the literary world she so desperately wanted to be a part of is not at all what it seems.

My Thoughts

The Last Book Party centers around Eve and her summer on Cape Cod working under famous writer Henry Grey and his his wife, poet Tilly. Eve is an aspiring writer but hasn't written anything worthwhile. Eve is drawn into this literary world with its intellectual elite and talented writers that she finds herself in a situation that she never thought she would be in. She falls for Henry and Tilly’s son but soon finds her sights on someone else, someone she never imagined but the situation is one that will change things. 

The spotlight of the summer is the “Book Party” hosted by Henry and Tilly that has the who's who in the literary world invited. This is the place when all of the secrets that have been ongoing finally come to the surface and not only will Eve’s secret come out but all of those around her. She finally realizes that this world she has been wanting for as long as she can remember isn't what’s it's cracked up to be.

The Last Book Party drew me in with the promise of all things literary and it didn't disappoint. We get a glimpse of this world but also so much more, Eve is a young woman who just wants to do what she loves, which is writing and being around all these great writers is something she could only dream of. However, this life she thought she wanted isn't so wonderful as she had imagined and realizes there has to be a better way. She is simply learning to come into her own and finding her path to being able to do what she loves. This read is a great coming of age novel that has a great storyline and characters that give us reasons to hate but also love them. This is an easy and quick read that is perfect for these last days of Summer.

Blog Tour: Can You Heat It by Casey Diam

Today we have the release day blitz for CAN YOU HEAR IT by Casey Diam! 

Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!

CAN YOU HEAR IT by Casey Diam

Genre: Sports Romance

About Can You Hear It

Secrets. Deceptions. Tragedies. Those were the root of all evil. One of those became the root of mine the day I lost the love of my life. My best friend. My lover. Everyone disregarded it, saying, “Let’s face it, Averie, you have the rest of your life ahead of you.” They were wrong. James Lawrence was my ever after . . . until Ashton. If only he didn’t come bearing his own brand of evil. A secret. The reason he wanted me to stay away. I should have listened, and he should have tried harder, but both of us failed. And if we hadn’t, if he had told me when we first met, would it have altered the moment I realized that I was falling for him? The slight variation in the air. The hitch in my breath. The lightness in my chest. Impossible to know; I’d already fallen. I was already ruined. ***A standalone sports romance that takes place in senior year high school. Due to explicit content, this book is suitable for 17+

Excerpt

At Ashton’s table in the cafeteria, I waved to the guys and a few other girls sitting there. While I sat on the small round seat between Brody and Ashton, Candice went for the empty one across from me, next to Ryker.

“Do you want to trade places?” Brody asked Candice when she was about to sit.

I hid my smile because I was pretty sure that was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Have a seat, pretty girl. I don’t bite.” Ryker grinned. “Unless you want me to.”

With my mouth ajar, I watched Candice take a seat, clearing her throat and swallowing.

I might not be able to tell from her cheeks, but I knew she was blushing, and bad.

“Are you sure you don’t want my orange?” Candice asked again.

I shook my head with a mischievous smile. “I’m good.”

Apparently, I did something with my eyes because hers widened in a silent plea for me to behave.

I grinned and lowered my head. A second later, while I was on my phone, Ashton held his spicy chicken sandwich to my mouth.

Leaning away from it, I said, “I’m not hungry.”

“I didn’t ask, but you should be.” He jutted his chin out to his sandwich. “Just one bite.”

His gray eyes distracted me as I looked at him, and suddenly, I felt too warm as I recalled that image of his arms around me while I’d slept.

“Fine.”

My eyes dropped to the sandwich, and I covered his hands with mine as I took a bite.

He looked slightly mollified, so I went back to scrolling through Instagram as I chewed. Once I swallowed, I realized how much I needed that bite. That was so good.

“Are you following me on there?” Ash asked, looking at my phone.

I wasn’t, but we were already Facebook friends. I typed in his name and he pointed to the second profile from the top. “That one.”

I clicked on it and my mouth fell open. Over seventy-six thousand followers. “How is this possible? You’re joking.” But as I scrolled through the account of all the images of him playing football, and him with some of the other guys, I knew for a fact this was his account. One that I would so be stalking later.

I narrowed my eyes at him after clicking Follow. “You better follow back.”

He chuckled. “I will.”

He held out his half-eaten sandwich to me, and I grinned, happily biting into it before playing on my phone again.

After a minute, his finger brushed a corner of my mouth, and my heart stuttered as my gaze lifted, halting at his lips before moving up to his eyes. Oh my God! Why did I just do that? His eye color transformed into a stormy gray, but there was so much heat in them, they melted my thoughts. He’d never looked at me like that before. Fascinated and still at a loss for words, my eyes lowered to his soft, full, raspberry-colored lips. Damn it, I did it again.

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About Casey Diam

  

Some years ago, Casey rediscovered her passion for writing and hasn’t stopped writing since. Her favorite genre is romance with edge which is why she writes sexy, funny, sweet, and emotional stories that are a little bit more in depth, but so much fun to read.  

 

Connect with Casey

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Enter Casey’s Giveaway

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Monthly TBR: August

Monthly Wrap Up: July

Hey Y’all! I hope everyone is having a great Summer. I’ve had a decent one filled with wonderful books and this month didn't disappoint either. Here is how my July reading panned out.

Books Read

35. A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Evardsson

36. Birthday by Meredith Russo

37. Ask Again Yes by Mary Beth Keane

38. Gone Too Long by Lori Roy

39. Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner

40. The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

41. Because You’re Mine by Rea Frey

Reading Stats

5 Stars - 2

4.5 Stars - 2

4 Stars - 3

3 Stars - 0

2 Stars - 0

1 Stars - 0

Genres

Fiction - 4

Thrillers - 2

YA - 1

Pages Read - 2,512

Books via Publisher

The Swallows by Lisa Lutz

Carnegie Hill by Jonathan Vatner

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis

The Arrangement by Robyn Harding

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood

What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

Holly Banks Full of Angst by Julie Valerie

The Perfect Son by Lauren North

The Two Lila Bennetts by Liz Fenton and Liz Steinke

The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland

Thank you Berkley Books, Lake Union, Little Brown and Co, St. Martin’s Press, Scout Press, Dutton, Thomas Dunne Books, Ballantine Books and William Morrow for all the great books!

ARC’s via NetGalley/Edelweiss

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald

The Operator by Gretchen Berg

Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough

That’s it for my July Wrap Up please feel free to share your wrap up I love to check out all things bookish!!

Release Blitz: Can You Hear It by Casey Diam

Today we have the release day blitz for CAN YOU HEAR IT by Casey Diam! 

Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!

CAN YOU HEAR IT by Casey Diam

Genre: Sports Romance

About Can You Hear It

Secrets. Deceptions. Tragedies. Those were the root of all evil. One of those became the root of mine the day I lost the love of my life. My best friend. My lover. Everyone disregarded it, saying, “Let’s face it, Averie, you have the rest of your life ahead of you.” They were wrong. James Lawrence was my ever after . . . until Ashton. If only he didn’t come bearing his own brand of evil. A secret. The reason he wanted me to stay away. I should have listened, and he should have tried harder, but both of us failed. And if we hadn’t, if he had told me when we first met, would it have altered the moment I realized that I was falling for him? The slight variation in the air. The hitch in my breath. The lightness in my chest. Impossible to know; I’d already fallen. I was already ruined. ***A standalone sports romance that takes place in senior year high school. Due to explicit content, this book is suitable for 17+ 

Grab Your Copy Today

Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Goodreads

 

Exclusive Excerpt

My lips pressed to hers. “You can touch me anywhere.” I kissed her again. “It’s whatever you want, Averie.” I would be lying if I said I hadn’t been masturbating to images of her—every fucking day. Especially after talking to her on the phone at night. Her voice held this sexy rasp that sent all kinds of signals to my cock each time she spoke, and the wrong signals, too. It wasn’t the let’s-be-friends kind. It was the let-me-spread-your-legs-and-have-you-for-dessert kind, let-me-make-you-come-on-my-cock kind. And as we began to make out again, it remained in the back of my mind that I needed to tell her about my condition. Kissing was okay. Touching was okay. But anything more than that, and I would have to tell her first. It wouldn’t be anything short of a betrayal if I didn’t. She wasn’t like the other three I’d slept with, she was more, I felt it every time I so much as looked at her. Her hand moved over my zipper, and my cock lurched in my jeans, and as she began to caress me, a groan caught in my throat. Fuck. Take my cock out if you want, I told her with my kiss. Whatever you want, Averie. Oh, fuck yes . . . Her grip tightened around my dick as she continued to work it through the material, all I could think was how much I wanted to feel her bare hands on me. With me on the brink of insanity, my lips crushed to hers, desperate with need. After pressing myself into her hand, I rolled onto my back and flicked my belt from the loop, undoing it and my button in two seconds flat before yanking my zipper down. As her eyes shifted to my hand shoving at my jeans and then the tent pole situation in my boxers, I watched her. Her fingers glided over my abs and under the waistband of my boxers, and inside to grip my cock. Oh, fuck. My head fell back, and a heavy breath passed my lips as my eyes closed.

 

About Casey Diam

   

Some years ago, Casey rediscovered her passion for writing and hasn’t stopped writing since. Her favorite genre is romance with an edge which is why she writes sexy, funny, sweet, and emotional stories that are a little bit more in-depth, but so much fun to read.  

 

Connect with Casey

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Enter Casey’s Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Review: Because You're Mine by Rea Frey

Because You’re Mine by Rea Frey

Published: August 6, 2019

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Format: via NetGalley

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

Single mother Lee has the daily routine down to a science: shower in six minutes. Cut food into perfect squares. Never leave her on-the-spectrum son Mason in someone else’s care. She’ll do anything—anything—to keep his carefully constructed world from falling apart. Do anything to keep him safe.

But when her best friend Grace convinces her she needs a small break from motherhood to recharge her batteries, Lee gives in to a weekend trip. Surely a long weekend away from home won’t hurt?

Noah, Mason’s handsome, bright, charismatic tutor—the first man in ages Lee’s even noticed—is more than happy to stay with him.

Forty-eight hours later, someone is dead.

But not all is as it seems. Noah may be more than who he claims to be. Grace has a secret—one that will destroy Lee. Lee has secrets of her own that she will do anything to keep hidden.

As the dominoes begin to fall and the past comes to light, perhaps it's no mystery someone is gone after all.

My Thoughts

Because You’re Mine is like no other psychological thriller I have ever read before. It all starts out simple: Lee who has a child, Mason, on the autistic spectrum has her life on a strict schedule because of him but she wouldn't have it any other way, he is her world. However, she misses having a relationship and soon finds herself with a crush on her son’s teacher, Noah and she can't help herself and she has to tell him. With her crazy routine her best friend, Grace, demands that Lee join her and their group of friends on a girls getaway and even though Lee doesn't want to let her son she knows she needs and deserves it.

Grace has been a savior when it comes to Lee and her son. She is the best friend anyone could ever ask for and she has a bond with Mason that can't be explained. She helps with Mason when she can and she even has become his legal guardian if anything happens to Lee. But Grace has a secret she has been hiding from Lee one that can break her heart and end their friendship. However Grace isn't all she's cracked up to be, she isn't so nice and innocent either and her secrets are ones that can destroy a friendship and other things beyond anyone’s imagination.

Noah seems like a nice and sweet guy who loves and cares for Mason. He is patient with him and teaches him that he can live without limitations. However Noah has some things in his past that he tries to forget but like all things his past is about to catch up to him and what he has done, and he is about to pay for.

This novel is told in past and present chapters and the characters are so rich with layers that continue to peel and give us a storyline I NEVER saw coming. We have all these characters and how the past relates to the present. And the ending? WOW!!! Is all I can say, that ending is what made me give it five stars. The last few chapters when everything wraps up and comes to a head is what made this book for me. I never saw that ending coming and it totally shocked me, which I loved! This novel took it to a place I could have never imagined! Simply put if you want fast-paced interesting read definitely check out this one, you will not regret it.

Review: Gone Too Long by Lori Roy

Gone Too Long by Lori Roy

Published: June 25, 2019

Publisher: Dutton Books

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

On the day a black truck rattles past her house and a Klan flyer lands in her front yard, ten-year-old Beth disappears from her Simmonsville, Georgia, home. Armed with skills honed while caring for an alcoholic mother, she must battle to survive the days and months ahead.

Seven years later, Imogene Coulter is burying her father--a Klan leader she has spent her life distancing herself from--and trying to escape the memories his funeral evokes. But Imogene is forced to confront secrets long held by Simmonsville and her own family when, while clearing out her father's apparent hideout on the day of his funeral, she finds a child. Young and alive, in an abandoned basement, and behind a door that only locks from the outside.

As Imogene begins to uncover the truth of what happened to young Beth all those years ago, her father's heir apparent to the Klan's leadership threatens her and her family. Driven by a love that extends beyond the ties of blood, Imogene struggles to save a girl she never knew but will now be bound to forever and to save herself and those dearest to her. Tightly coiled and chilling, Gone Too Long ensnares, twists, and exposes the high price we are willing to pay for the ones we love. 

My Thoughts

Gone too Long is the story of how the Ku Klux Klan still has a very strong hold in the South.  It focuses on Imogene and her family after the death of her father. There is a mystery about a ten-year girl who went missing after the death of a teenager years ago, but Imogene has no idea how much her family is involved in this event.

Imogene is trying to get over a very hard tragedy in her life, the death of her husband and child. After the funeral of her father, she realizes there is someone in the basement of an old shack on the family property and when she discovers its a young boy her mind races as to who he is and more importantly who had him down there. She first thinks her father had something to do with it, but as she slowly unravels the truth she finds out there is way more to the story than she ever thought possible. Once the truth is revealed she must decide to do the right thing, which might hurt her family or make sure justice is served no matter the price it might mean to her life. Gone too Long is a story that shows us that the mean and sick dealings of the Ku Klux Klan are still very much alive and how these teachings are still going on. Imogene was raised with these teachings but knows that they are wrong and these are very bad individuals. She knows what is right and what is wrong and she knows she must do everything she can to make sure the past doesn't repeat itself.

This story is about survival and for standing up for what's right. Imogene is a survivor in all forms, she overcomes the death of her husband and child and learns that the person she thought was her father really wasn't, meaning she could escape her past and help her family live a new life. This is a page-turner one that has you wondering what will happen next. I love how most of this novel is told through Imogene and we can see how she sees her family and their connection to the Klan from the inside. This is an interesting story with a few storylines that all tie in at the end, with an ending that was surprising. This is one read that had me from page one and kept my attention until the very end.