Monthly Archives: August 2012

Finding Emma

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Finding Emma



Author: Steena Holmes
Publisher: Steena Holmes
Pages: 265
Genre: Mystery
Source:  BookSparks
Giveaway below
Goodreads:     Megan sees her daughter Emma everywhere. She’s the little girl standing in the supermarket, the child waiting for the swings at the playground, the girl with ice cream dripping down her face. But it’s never Emma.


Emma’s been missing for two years.

Unable to handle the constant heartache of all the false sightings, Megan’s husband threatens to walk away unless Megan can agree to accept Emma is gone. Megan’s life and marriage is crumbling all around her and she realizes she may have to do the thing she dreads most: move on.

When Megan takes a photo of a little girl with an elderly couple at the town fair, she believes it to be her missing daughter. Unable to let go, she sets in motion a sequence of events that could destroy both families lives.




Ope’s Opinion:  Where do I begin to tell you about this book…  It got to my heart.    Finding Emma is not your typical lost child book.  The different points of view that the story was written from  kept me turning pages and wanting to know more.  Each person in the book had some information, but no one had the whole picture until the end.  I liked that most of the story was told after the child was already gone.  Watching this family attempt to live a normal life just tore at me. 
                                    I am a mother of two girls, I can not imagine the heart ache this family went through.  Because of my perspective, I was most sympathetic to the mother’s character.
                                  At the end, I was thinking I wanted a sequel.  It was so nice to see that Steena Holmes is working on it.
                                This is a must read book!  Well worth your time.




Rating:  Five Chairs – This book is so good it will be passed on and on and on….










                          




   FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 

    I received one copy of this book free of charge from Sparks PR Agency. 
        I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book;
                                                                             rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.



Giveaway at Ope’s Opinions

1 copy of Finding Emma
US residents only

TO win: Leave a comment below and an email address, so I can contact you.

Random.org will decide the winner.
Contest ends August 14th at 9am.


Oh, My Birthday!

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My family spoils me!  My husband bought me a swing for my deck,
where I spend most of my time reading and reviewing my books.  Some days it is hard to get me out of my swing!  I take my computer, a good book, my cell phone and a glass of water out to the swing and I enjoy the day!

Jennifer of The Underestimated Mom  knows how much I love the beach, so she bought me two pictures for my birthday.  These pictures make me feel like I am at the beach each day!  She also bought me two book marks: eat.sleep.read.  I know my priorities.  And I judge books by their covers!

 

Kristin of Kritters Ramblings came to spend the day with us.  She remembered that at BEA this year, I had to borrow her wristlet, so she bought me my own.  Now I can use it at her wedding at the end of the month!

This is the business card holder she also bought me for my new blogging
cards!

My husband, my girls and their significant others took me out to dinner at Firebirds.  One of my favorite places to eat!  What a wonderful day to celebrate another year!

What the Nanny Saw

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What the Nanny Saw

Author: Fiona Neill
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 450
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: Penguin Books





Goodreads:    It’s the summer of 2008. For the past decade Nick and Bryony Skinner and their four children have ridden high on the economic boom, but their luck is about to run out. Suddenly, the privileged family finds itself at the center of a financial scandal:


Their Central London house is besieged by the press, Nick disappears, and Bryony and the children become virtual prisoners in their own home. And Ali, their trusted nanny, watches it all. As the babysitter, she brings a unique insider-outsider perspective to the family, seeing far more than even the family itself is capable of. But when a reporter with a personal connection to the story comes asking her for the inside scoop, will Ali remain loyal to the family who never saw her as anything other than the help? Or will she tell her side?

Written with Fiona Neill’s delicious humor and addictive style, What the Nanny Saw is a keenly observed, often comical chronicle of the urban wealthy elite, of parents who are often too busy to notice what is going on under their own noses, of children left to their own devices, and of a young nanny thrown into a role she doesn’t know how to play. It is a morality tale of our time, a tale of betrayal, the corrosive influence of too much money, and why good people sometimes do bad things.



Ope’s Opinion:  If you like books written from a British perspective and set in London, you may like this one.  I found it hard to get into in the beginning.  It did improve.  The core story was good.  Most of the characters were likable.   I found the details overwhelming.    I think the whole story could have been written in a lot less pages.  


Rating:  Two Chairs – I may have one friend who  might like this book.




  

                           FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 

                      I received one copy of this book free of charge from Penguin Books.

                      I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt

                     of the book; rather the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

                      

                       

Home Rules

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Home Rules

Author:  Nate Berkus
Publisher:  Hyperion
Pages:                 176   
Genre: non-fiction               
                       Source: borrowed from my daughter
Goodreads:  Nate Berkus, a regular contributor on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” contributing editor to “O, The Oprah Magazine, “and nationally renowned decorator, has created a book inspired by his belief that everyone should love the way they live. This step-by-step guide to achieving one’s own beautiful rooms is based on Nate’s signature style and innovative approach to design. 150 color photos.


Ope’s Opinion:  This book was one my daughter Jennifer of The Underestimated Mom found  at the Library sale ( blogged about it on July 9th ) we attended.  It is worth the read.  Nate gives a lot of good ideas that can be done on a budget, in an hour, a day or a weekend.  He takes each room in the house and gives examples that are fun to look at.  I learned a lot.  He asks good questions to make you think about your style, not imposing his style on anyone. I am impressed.




Rating:  Five Chairs – This book is so good it will be passed on and on and on….