Category Archives: TLC Book Review

Review: In the Bag

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For anyone who is traveling this summer, I highly recommend picking up this book. It’s the perfect read for vacations and summertime. Kate Klise, the author of In the Bag, has written a fun twist on a classic love story:

A European vacation. A luggage mix-up. A note from a secret admirer.

Meet two single parents who think they’re too busy to date.
And two teenagers who can’t stop writing flirty emails.
This is a tale of connections—missed and made—in a universe that seems to have its heart set on reuniting Ms. 6B and Mr. 13C.

In the Bag is a smart and stylish story that explores the old-fashioned art of romance in a modern world, where falling in love can be as risky as checking a bag on an international flight. Buckle your seat belt—it’s going to be a bumpy vacation!

What I loved about this book: Kilse currently lives in Missouri, so I really enjoyed the references throughout the book to the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington University, Gooey Butter Cake since two of her main characters are from the STL. The chapters alternate points of view and perspective which I find always makes a book more enjoyable and keeps the readers guessing. Most of the book takes place overseas in Paris, Madrid and Barcelona and I enjoyed some of the little known facts about each city both cultural and otherwise that I had forgotten or wasn’t aware of.

Klise keeps things simple while managing to remind us to make sure we keep our eyes (and our hearts) open, because we never know what to expect.

Perhaps the book is a tad predictable for some, but there are a few twists and turns that are slightly unexpected as the book draws to its close. Anyone who loves traveling, stories about missed connections, and a new twist on the classic love story should definitely check this one out!

What kind of books do you enjoy reading when you’re traveling? Do you have a favorite book that’s a take on the classic love story?

 

Disclosure: Thanks to TLC Book Tours for keeping my bookshelves stocked this year by providing me with complimentary books to review. I have not been otherwise compensated for my reviews and opinions.

 

Book Love: The Shoemaker’s Wife

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When Mandy alerted me to the fact that TLC Book Tours was working with Adriana Trigiani I immediately hopped onto my computer and brazenly asked if I could be on this tour. You see, I fell in love with Trigiani’s books with the Very, Valentine series. And then Lucia, Lucia, followed by The Queen of the Big Time. And The Big Stone Gap series. I’m hoping to enjoy the young adult novels she’s written soon, too. Her writing, her characters, her spot-on representation of Italian families and culture from how (and what) we eat, to the Italian words we use in our everyday life and beyond, I’m a huge, huge fan. I may or may not have told my mom that I’d love it if Adriana came to our wedding as a guest later this year because she seems just like she’d fit right in with our half-Italian family.

The Shoemaker’s Wife came in the mail and of course I got all excited, maybe even admiring the cover for awhile. Then I started the book and fell in love with the way Adriana weaves the characters’ lives into one beautiful story, the historical picture that’s painted throughout this book, and of course the twists and turns that the story takes as it progresses.

Here’s a brief overview of the book as found on Barnes & Noble’s website.

The majestic beauty of the Italian Alps at the turn of the twentieth century is the setting of the first meeting of Enza, a practical beauty, and Ciro, a strapping mountain boy. When Ciro catches the local priest in a scandal, he is banished and sent to hide in America. Soon Enza’s family faces disaster and she, too, is forced to go to America.

Unbeknownst to one another, they both build fledgling lives in America. Ciro masters shoemaking and Enza takes a factory job until fate intervenes and reunites them. But it is too late: Ciro has volunteered to serve in World War I as Enza begins her impressive career as a seamstress at the Metropolitan Opera House. Over time, these star-crossed lovers meet and separate, until the power of their love changes both of their lives forever. Inspired by Adriana Trigiani’s own family history and the love of tradition, The Shoemaker’s Wife defines an era with operatic scope that will live on in the imaginations of readers for years to come.

I laughed. I cried (a lot). I cheered for Ciro and Enza. I stored away beautiful Italian names in case I ever have kids. I dog-eared pages because some of the lines really spoke to me. A few of my favorites:

“Mama always said a good family has one heartbeat. No one knows you like the people who live with you, and no one will take up your cause to the outside world quite like your blood relatives.” – pg. 45

“A man could think clearly in a place that gave breadth to his dreams.” pg. 136

“The wise man leaves the past behind like a pair of boots he has outgrown” pg. 146

“Life is a series of choice, made with the best of intentions, often with hope.” pg. 311

This book is longer at over 400 pages but it’s worth it: an epic story combining love, family, triumph and determination you really can’t go wrong.

You can follow Adriana on Twitter and Facebook if you want more on her books and live, up-to-the-minute news.

Have you read any of Adriana’s books? If you could invite an author to your birthday party or wedding who would you choose?

Disclosure: TLC Book Tours provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review, however all opinions and views are my own. I was not otherwise compensated to write a positive review.

 

More Like Her, a Review

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More Like Her, by Liza Palmer, starts off with a bang. Like the kind of bang where you want to keep reading to find out what the heck happens in this book. The first 125 pages or so are full of intensity: you know something is going to happen but you’re not sure what exactly it is or what it means for the characters in the book. Palmer’s writing reminds me slightly of Stephen King in that respect: knowing something is going to happen but nothing is happening so it builds the suspense. Even though the back of the book gives you some insight into what’s in store when you pick up this book, I found myself anxiously awaiting for the plot to thicken and the main three characters: Frannie, Jill and Lisa to figure out what it all means for them.

What really goes on behind those perfect white picket fences?

In Frances’s mind, beautiful, successful, ecstatically married Emma Dunham is the height of female perfection. Frances, recently dumped with spectacular drama by her boyfriend, aspires to be just like Emma. So do her close friends and fellow teachers, Lisa and Jill. But Lisa’s too career-focused to find time for a family. And Jill’s recent unexpected pregnancy could have devastating consequences for her less-than-perfect marriage.

Yet sometimes the golden dream you fervently wish for turns out to be not at all what it seems—like Emma’s enviable suburban postcard life, which is about to be brutally cut short by a perfect husband turned killer. And in the shocking aftermath, three devastated friends are going to have to come to terms with their own secrets . . . and somehow learn to move forward after their dream is exposed as a lie.

Palmer’s writing is different than other books I’ve read so far through TLC: a little bit more conversational, a little bit funnier and there are some great references to TV Shows (Miami Vice) and movies (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) that any child of the 1980s will smile at. There are moments in this book that are so raw, like when Frannie deals with the aftermath of her break-up from Ryan, who is also a co-worker, that I was transported back to the days of dealing with some of my own tumultous break-ups. Or when Frannie looks at herself and tries to figure out why it is that she’s unsuccessful in love (something I have done a few times myself). One of the added bonuses: Palmer includes a sample of the songs that are on Frannie’s Break-up Mix CD complete with explanations as to why these songs are perfect for break-ups. I always enjoy it when authors add lists and recipes that the characters would craft themselves at the end of the book.(If you check out Palmer’s website and read her blog, she makes music recommendations once a week and I have to say, she’s got some good mixes!)

If you are looking for a book that combines mystery, romance, self-discovery and a hint of humor, this would be a great book to try. It starts off a bit slow but once the momentum starts, you won’t want to put this book down. Check out Palmer on Twitter and Facebook!

Have you read any of Palmer’s other books, such as Conversations with the Fat Girl or Seeing Me Naked?  Anything you’ve read lately that’s worth checking out?

Disclosure: I was provided a complimentary copy of the book by TLC book tours but was not otherwise compensated for my review and opinions, which are all my own.

Book: Whatever you Love

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Whatever you Love by Louise Doughty may be one of the heaviest books I’ve read this year. It’s well-written throughout and paints a very clear picture of what would be like to lose your child but is just so very sad (understandably so).

The description of the book thanks to Barnes & Noble:

“I study the photo in the same way that a spy might study the face of a counterpart in a rival organization. I am calm as I make this promise: I am going to find out what you love, then whatever it is, I am going to track it down and I am going to take it away from you.”

After the death of Laura’s nine-year-old daughter, Betty, is ruled an accident in a hit-and-run, Laura decides to take revenge into her own hands, determined to track down the man responsible. All the while, her inner turmoil is reopening the old wounds of her passionate love affair with Betty’s father, David, and his abandonment of the family for another woman.

Haunted by her past and driven to a breaking point by her thirst for retribution, Laura discovers the unforeseen lengths she is willing to go to for love and vengeance.

Doughty has the book divided up into “Before” and “After”; the before of course being before the death of Laura’s daughter, which is when Laura examines her relationship with her now ex-husband David (who I personally thought was a royal butthead in the “Before” sections, but rather apologetic and decent in the “After,” sections), Betty’s birth and upbringing. While the “Before” parts are key to the story, I found them to be a tad flat, mostly because Laura seems to have a negative tint on her past, too. The “After,” sections I found much more engaging: Laura actually feels and does things, rather than letting things happen to her, there is interesting character development and of course, there is action… loads of it, things I didn’t even expect to happen.

Despite the incredible sadness of the book (it doesn’t help there is little light in the setting as it takes place in seaside town in England where the wind seems to always be whipping and a light rain present), it’s incredibly well-written from the first page to the last. Doughty will have you questioning what you would do if you were in a similar situation: how far would you go for justice and closure? How far is to far? There is some small amount of closure in this book albeit a tad unexpected and the last few pages made me cry a bit.

This book seems like it would make a good book club selection as there is a lot going on and a lot to talk about as far as ethics and morals and reminds me in some ways of “Little Bee,” by Chris Cleave.

What would you do if someone you loved was taken from you unexpectedly? Does this perhaps sound like a book you’d consider for a book club?

Disclosure: TLC Book Tours provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of this review, however all views, opinions and commentary of this book are my own. I was not otherwise compensated for this review or obligated to post my review in anyway.  

 

 

How to Eat a Cupcake, a Review

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Warning: Reading this book will cause you to crave and subsequently bake cupcakes. And then proceed to eat a bunch of them, even though they aren’t as good as what you’d find in the bakery that exists in the book, How to Eat a Cupcake, by Meg Donohue. At least that’s what I did this past weekend.

From Goodreads:

Funny, free-spirited Annie Quintana and sophisticated, ambitious Julia St. Clair come from two different worlds. Yet, as the daughter of the St. Clair’s housekeeper, Annie grew up in Julia’s San Francisco mansion and they forged a bond that only two little girls who know nothing of class differences and scholarships could—until a life-altering betrayal destroyed their friendship.

A decade later, Annie is now a talented, if underpaid, pastry chef who bakes to fill the void left in her heart by her mother’s death. Julia, a successful businesswoman, is tormented by a painful secret that could jeopardize her engagement to the man she loves. When a chance reunion prompts the unlikely duo to open a cupcakery, they must overcome past hurts and a mysterious saboteur or risk losing their fledgling business and any chance of healing their fractured friendship.

This book took me by surprise: how much I liked it (I read it in less than two days and struggled to put it down), the different elements that Donohue pulled into the book, the character development, the twists and turns. I am sure some people would classify this is as chick lit and I suppose I can see that, but at the same time, this book deals with personal growth and being honest with yourself as well.  I think Donohue does a good job of appropriately mixing mystery, chick lit and good ole’ fiction in this novel. Each chapter alternates points of view between Anna and Julia, former best friends. They are brought together under unlikely circumstances; they push forward, starting a new business and forging new bonds, while overcoming old scars and wounds.  They begin a new joint-venture business, called Treat, and through the ups and downs of business ownership and a lot of cupcakes, find their way back to friendship, love and the next phase of their lives. Although the book was 320 pages long, I wish that we had a bit more insight into the characters at the end of the book, as it seemed to end a bit abruptly, but otherwise, I really don’t have a bad thing to say about this book. (Maybe a chance for a sequel?)

You can follow Donohue on her  Website | Facebook | Twitter, plus be sure to tune in on April 24th at 7 pm ET for a interview with Donohue on Book Club Girl.

If you’re looking for a fun and lighter read to ease you into spring and summer, I highly recommend this book. If you’ve read this or heard of it, let me know what you think!

 

* Disclosure: All opinions in this review are my own; apart from receiving a review copy of this book from TLC Book Tours, I was not otherwise compensated to read this book or write this review.

 

 

 

Cruising Altitude, a Review

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About the book, Cruising Altitude by Heather Poole:

Flying the not-so-friendly skies…

In her more than fifteen years as an airline flight attendant, Heather Poole has seen it all. She’s witnessed all manner of bad behavior at 35,000 feet and knows what it takes for a traveler to become the most hated passenger onboard. She’s slept in flight attendant crashpads in “Crew Gardens,” Queens—sharing small bedrooms crammed with bunk beds with a parade of attractive women who come and go at all hours, prompting suspicious neighbors to jump to the very worst conclusions. She’s watched passengers and coworkers alike escorted off the planes by police. She can tell you why it’s a bad idea to fall for a pilot but can be a very good one (in her case) to date a business-class passenger. Heather knows everything about flying in a post-9/11 world—and she knows what goes on behind the scenes, things the passengers would never dream.

What I enjoyed about this book:Poole keeps it interesting and informative without sounding condescending even when she shares stories about some of the crazier passengers she’s encountered, or her pet peeves about flying. Some of my favorite pages included the true stories of the famous-people-who-shall-not-be-named that she saw on her flights and the crazy stories from other flight attendants. I can only imagine how tough it must be to try to accommodate every passenger’s whim and request, especially in a post-9/11 world. I enjoyed reading the various rules and regulations the flight attendants have to abide by, both on and off the plane, and even during their training such as hair length, lipstick, uniform and shoe requirements. I laughed out loud when Poole says that most pilots are notorious for being poor dressers. (I went out with a pilot once. It’s true. Really poor choice of clothing.)

After reading this book I really would like to grab drinks with Heather Poole, author of Cruising Altitude. In this book Poole writes about the application & training process to become a flight attendant, the friends she meets along the way, life in and out of the airport, and everything in between. Poole peppers in interesting insight into the flight experience (did you know there are three kinds of turbulence? Or that on international flights there is a galley “under” the plane and a flight attendant works down there the whole flight time?)  that put me, a very uneasy passenger at ease. For some reason I feel more comfortable flying now than before. 

Poole mentions at the end of her book that she’ll be writing another memoir and I truly can’t wait to read it. For anyone who has ever wondered what life in the skies (and on the ground) is like for flight attendants I highly recommend this book!  Of all the books I’ve read for reviews so far, this is probably my favorite.  Follow Poole on Twitter or check out her Facebook page for more on her book and the flying lifestyle.

Question: Are you a fan of memoirs? When it comes to flying do you enjoy it, or do you prefer another method of travel?

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Cruising Altitude solely for the purpose of reading and reviewing it; I was not otherwise compensated by TLC Book Tours.

Book Review: Come and Find Me

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 Amount of time it took me to read Come and Find Me by Hallie Ephron:  Less than two days. I started and finished it over the period of a weekend. It’s oddly addictive. You can feel the suspense as you read the book from the very start. Because this book is different than what I usually read and because I so thoroughly enjoyed it, I give it four out of five stars.

 About the book, from the back cover:

Reformed hacker Diana Highsmith hasn’t left her house in over a year . . .

. . . not since she watched the man she loved fall to his death in the Swiss mountains. Now a grief-stricken recluse, she runs a thriving Internet security company from her home—meeting with clients in OtherWorld, an online virtual reality platform where she lives as her avatar, Nadia. The only two people Diana has seen live in the past twelve months are her sister, Ashley, and her UPS delivery guy.

But when Ashley vanishes, Diana is forced to do the unthinkable: to brave both the outside and her own personal demons to find her missing sister. As one shaky step leads to another, Diana finds that the trail she is following is fraught with peril for her and her sister both—as she uncovers a frightening web of deceit and betrayal that stretches from the virtual world into real life.

Favorite thing about this book:  The characters! Ephron does a great job of making you care about the characters and their fate as the book progresses. I found myself rooting for Diana as she navigates a new and uncertain world after the death of her husband, laughing along with her sister Ashley, and reading to find out what happens once Ashley disappears. The writing captures the reader and the story is presented concise writing but Ephron manages to evoke emotion and create scenes effortlessly. Give the book about 50 pages and next thing you know you’ll be glued to the book as Ephron crafts twists, turns, plot developments and surprises that I don’t think you’ll see coming. Ephron says she hopes that her books will keep readers up at night; without revealing details I’ll say that this book definitely shouldn’t be read alone, in the dark, or on a stormy night.

What I didn’t like about this book: Some of the computer jargon was lost on me and confused me at times. Even though Knight is in the IT world and I’ve known other IT-oriented people in my life, this is a new side of the computer world (hacking, virtual worlds) that I didn’t follow in technical detail. Fortunately it’s not detrimental to my understanding of the book and plot. I do think people who aren’t at least familiar with the idea of virtual worlds (social media in it’s own right) may not enjoy this book.

After finishing this book I am curious about Ephron’s other novels and will have to check them out (after my hear stops racing from all the suspense in this novel!). For more on and about Ephron, check out Hallie Ephron’s Facebook page or her website; kind of wish I could check her out at one of the writing conference where she’s teaching and speaking.

Do you enjoy novels of suspense? If not what is your favorite genre?  

Disclosure: TLC Book Tours provided me with a complimentary copy of Come and Find Me to read and review; I was not otherwise compensated to write and share my own views and opinions about this book. As such, all opinions, thoughts and commentary are my own.

Book Review: The Silent Oligarch

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Happy Monday, blog friends! Another Monday, another book review for The Silent Oligarch, by Chris Morgan Jones.

About the book, directly from the book cover:

A London intelligence agent pursues a money launderer to expose the dealings of a shadowy Russian oligarch.

….

Deep in the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources sits a nondescript bureaucrat named Konstantin Malin. He draws a nominal government salary but from his shabby office controls half the nation’s oil industry, making him one of the most wealthy and feared men in Russia. His public face is Richard Lock, a hapless money launderer bound to Malin by marriage, complacency, and greed. Lock takes the proceeds of his master’s corruption, washes them abroad, and invests them back in Russia in a secret business empire. He knows little about Malin’s true affairs, but still he knows too much.

Benjamin Webster is an investigator at a London corporate intelligence firm. … Hired to ruin Malin, Webster comes to realize that this shadowy figure might have ordered her gruesome death, and that this case may deliver the justice he has been seeking for a decade.

As Webster peels back the layers of Malin’s shell companies and criminal networks, Lock’s colleagues begin dying mysteriously, police around the world start to investigate, and Malin begins to question his trust in his increasingly exposed frontman. Suddenly Lock is running for his life- though from Malin or Webster, the law or his own past, he couldn’t say.

I think the best way to describe this book: Mission Impossible meets Bourne Supremacy meets FBI thriller, only all taking place in Europe. At the outset of the book there is a lot of financial and political discussion which is a bit hard to follow (likely because I’m not an expert on the financial world) but once you get through the first 75 pages, the book takes off. I found I was no longer reading just to review the book but to actually see what happens to Lock, Malin and Webster. The characters have the makings of movie characters; I wouldn’t be surprised if a variation of this book is picked for a movie at some point because it has that movie quality. I’m thinking maybe a British Matt Damon for the role of Webster.

Jones does a good job with suspense and making the reader’s palms sweat and has successfully created a web of a plot that will keep you guessing up until the very last page. There are twists and turns, betrayals and friendships, love and loss, and interesting look into the corruption of the international business world and that of the spies who try to expose the flawed business practices.

If you like mystery and intrigue combined with the appropriate amount of love, politics and business, pick this book up. I would definitely recommend it for the male reader in your life, especially if they enjoyed the Bourne series.

Question of the day: Am I the only who pictures actors/actresses that I’d cast to play the characters in the books I’m reading?

 

Book Review: First You Try Everything

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Monday Greetings, friends! This morning I’m starting a new partnership with TLC Book Tours with my first official book review.

When I first read the back of the book for “First You Try Everything,” by Jane McCafferty I admit I was intrigued. See you for yourself:

An engrossing tale of a marriage that’s falling apart and a wife who will stop at nothing to keep it together.

From their early days in college, Evvie and Ben were drawn to each other by feelings of isolation stemming from their wounded childhoods, passionate idealism, and zeal for music. Sheltered by their love, they weathered the challenges and trials of the imperfect world around them. But as the years passed, they grew apart. Now Ben has his sights set on a completely different kind of future—alone, or with someone else.

Convinced that Ben cannot live without her, Evvie begins to unravel, as she obsessively devises ways to reclaim the love that she cannot let go of. She gambles on a spectacularly dangerous scheme, one that may ultimately have devastating consequences.

Without spoiling the book, McCafferty wastes no time getting into the meat of the book: from the outset Evvie appears to be emotionally unstable, though to what degree is unknown and Ben, well he has a bit of a wandering eye and a taste for the good life, even if that means he spends most of his days in an office. Within the first few chapters, Ben leaves Evvie and your heart can’t help but hurt for her. As the book progresses the point of view switches back and forth between Ben and Evvie, a style of writing I’ve always enjoyed because you can really get to know the characters. I found my loyalty to the characters switching back and forth with each passing chapter although at some point I started talking to Evvie and giving her advice on how to handle the separation from Ben. Evvie takes my advice, but not exactly in a conventional way. Instead she embarks on a journey that takes Ben along for the ride and the book quickly goes from good to intense (in a good way) and I was rooting for the crazy scheme of Evvie’s through the end of the book.

Her writing is spot on throughout the book, with  my favorite part being her dialogue and the memories that Ben and Evvie recall of one another throughout the book, and all the parts of the book that involve Ruth, their dog.The only thing I didn’t enjoy is that it took close to three-fourths of the book to get to what I thik was the really good part when the book really takes off, but I realize it was part of the character and plot-building.  McCafferty does a good job of forcing you to ask yourself what you would do if you were in Evvie’s position. When is it acceptable to keep fighting for your love and your marriage? How far is to far? How do we move on after heartbreak?

This book won’t be for everyone as it deals with a heavy subject: the potential dissolution of a marriage, adultery, mental health issues, and some political overtones, but it’s incredibly thought provoking. If nothing else you’ll want to know what happens to Ben and Evvie and if you’re like me, have you thinking what you would (and wouldn’t) do for love and marriage.

If you’ve read this book, what did you think? If not, what would you do and how far would you go to save your marriage?

Disclaimer: All reviews in this blog are my own and I was not paid to write the opinions herein. I did receive a NFR copy of First You Try Everything from TLC Book Tours in exchange for my honest thoughts.