First Comes Love

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Author: Emily Giffin         love comes first
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source: BEA 2016

 

Goodreads:  In this dazzling new novel, Emily Giffin, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Something Borrowed, Where We Belong, and The One & Only introduces a pair of sisters who find themselves at a crossroads.

Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious relationship. Josie was impulsive, spirited, and outgoing; Meredith hardworking, thoughtful, and reserved. When tragedy strikes their family, their different responses to the event splinter their delicate bond.

Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. Josie, a first grade teacher, is single—and this close to swearing off dating for good. What she wants more than the right guy, however, is to become a mother—a feeling that is heightened when her ex-boyfriend’s daughter ends up in her class. Determined to have the future she’s always wanted, Josie decides to take matters into her own hands.

On the outside, Meredith is the model daughter with the perfect life. A successful attorney, she’s married to a wonderful man, and together they’re raising a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Yet lately, Meredith feels dissatisfied and restless, secretly wondering if she chose the life that was expected of her rather than the one she truly desired.

As the anniversary of their tragedy looms and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them, but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover they need each other more than they knew . . . and that in the recipe for true happiness, love always comes first.

Emotionally honest and utterly enthralling, First Comes Love is a story about family, friendship, and the courage to follow your own heart—wherever that may lead.

Ope’s Opinion:  Emily Giffin hits it out of the park again!  She is an amazing story weaver!  Her characters are well developed and you care about them. 

Josie and Meredith take turns tell their story in alternating chapters.  It always amazes me how two different people can see the same event very differently and react to in completely different ways.  Being sisters and being raised the same household doesn’t mean you agree and Emily Giffin showed that throughout this book.

This is not your typical summer read, I feel like it was a deeper story line with characters who are really struggling to figure out what their lives should look like.  It is a family drama story, not just a love story.

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Riverbend Road

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Author: RaeAnne Thayne                                  river
Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Little Bird Publicity

 

 

Goodreads:  Return to Haven Point, where New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne proves there’s no sweeter place to fall in love

Protecting the streets of Haven Point isn’t just a job for police officer Wyn Bailey, it’s a family tradition. But lately she’s found herself wanting more, especially from her boss—and overprotective brother’s best friend—sexy chief of police, Cade Emmett. The only problem is getting Cade to view her as more than just a little sister.

Cade’s hands-off approach with Wyn isn’t from lack of attraction. But his complicated past has forced him to conceal his desire. When Wyn is harmed in the line of duty, Cade realizes the depth of his feelings, but can he let his guard down long enough to embrace the love he secretly craves?

Ope’s Opinion:  This is the fourth in the Haven Point series, but you could read this one alone.  Characters from previous books are visited, but you don’t need to know them to enjoy this book. 

Riverbend Road is enjoyably predictable.  There are a few new things revealed along the way, but you know how it will end.  It was a sweet read.

The slow build of Wyn and Cade’s relationship made the book a delight to read.  I liked that they were friends for a long time and didn’t act on their feelings until they were older.  I also liked that the physical part of their relationship was not the focal point.

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This Just In….

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These books are from HarperCollins.

commonwealth

Publication Date:  September 13, 2016
Publisher:  Harper

Goodreads:  One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.

Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them.

When, in her twenties, Franny begins an affair with the legendary author Leon Posen and tells him about her family, the story of her siblings is no longer hers to control. Their childhood becomes the basis for his wildly successful book, ultimately forcing them to come to terms with their losses, their guilt, and the deeply loyal connection they feel for one another.

Told with equal measures of humor and heartbreak, Commonwealth is a meditation on inspiration, interpretation, and the ownership of stories. It is a brilliant and tender tale of the far-reaching ties of love and responsibility that bind us together.

First saw this on HarperCollins BEA pre-view – been wanting it since then!!

family treePublication Date: August 9, 2016
Publisher: William Morrow

Goodreads: or readers of Kristin Hannah and Jodi Picoult comes a powerful, emotionally complex story of love, loss, the pain of the past—and the promise of the future.

Sometimes the greatest dream starts with the smallest element. A single cell, joining with another. And then dividing. And just like that, the world changes.

Annie Harlow knows how lucky she is. The producer of a popular television cooking show, she loves her handsome husband and the beautiful Manhattan home they share. And now, she’s pregnant with their first child.

But in an instant, her life is shattered. And when Annie awakes from a year-long coma, she discovers that time isn’t the only thing she’s lost.

Grieving and wounded, Annie retreats to her old family home in Switchback, Vermont, a maple farm generations old. There, surrounded by her free-spirited brother, their divorced mother, and four young nieces and nephews, Annie slowly emerges into a world she left behind years ago: the town where she grew up, the people she knew before, the high-school boyfriend turned ex-cop. And with the discovery of a cookbook her grandmother wrote in the distant past, Annie unearths an age-old mystery that might prove the salvation of the family farm.

Family Tree is the story of one woman’s triumph over betrayal, and how she eventually comes to terms with her past. It is the story of joys unrealized and opportunities regained. Complex, clear-eyed and big-hearted, funny, sad, and wise, it is a novel to cherish and to remember.

I am a fan of Susan Wiggs, so I am looking forward to this one.

THANK YOU HARPERCOLLINS!!

Never Always Sometimes

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never

Author: Adi Alsaid
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Source:  BEA 2015

Goodreads: 

Never date your best friend.


Always be original.Sometimes rules are meant to be broken.

Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they’d never, ever do in high school.

Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never dye your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he’s broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It’s either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.

Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they’ve actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.

Ope’s Opinion:  This is a quirky book.  It started out a little slow.  Getting to know the characters took a little too long for me.  Some of the “nevers” weren’t really interesting and a couple were inappropriate.  It was an interesting way to tell a love story.
This love story will definitely surprise you.  It has two large twists that I did not see coming at all.  I liked the way it went.  I also liked the way it ended.
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Blogaversary

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Happy 4th year of blogging!!

 

I do like to review what I have done this past year at this time.
I also like to look forward to see where I want to go with this blog.

It has been a bumpy year.
We had to move twice and built a house.
So my reading was not as consistent.

At times I wasn’t sure I could keep up with this blog
the way I thought it should be.
My daughters kept encouraging me.

Then I went to BEA and was rejuvenated!
Seeing all the great books coming out, the wonderful bloggers,
and a wonderful author ( Steena Holmes ) made me not to
only keep going, but improve this blog.

Here’s To Us

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Author: Elin Hilderbrand                                here
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Fiction
Source: BEA 2016

 

Goodreads:  Three romantic rivals. One crowded house. Plenty of room for jealousy.

Laurel Thorpe, Belinda Rowe, and Scarlett Oliver share only two things; a love for the man they all married, Deacon Thorpe–a celebrity chef with an insatiable appetite for life–and a passionate dislike of one another. All three are remarkable, spirited women, but they couldn’t be more different. Laurel: Deacon’s high school sweetheart and an effortlessly beautiful social worker; Belinda: a high-maintenance Hollywood diva; and Scarlett: a sexy southern belle floating by on her family money and her fabulous looks. They’ve established a delicate understanding over the years–they avoid each other at all costs.

But their fragile detente threatens to come crashing down after Deacon’s tragic death on his favorite place on earth: a ramshackle Nantucket summer cottage. Deacon’s final wish was for his makeshift family to assemble on his beloved Nantucket to say good-bye. Begrudgingly, Laurel, Belinda, and Scarlett gather on the island as once again, as in each of their marriages, they’re left to pick up Deacon’s mess. Now they’re trapped in the crowded cottage where they all made their own memories–a house that they now share in more ways than one–along with the children they raised with Deacon, and his best friend. Laurel, Belinda, and Scarlett each had an unbreakable bond with Deacon–and they all have secrets to hide.

Before the weekend is over, there are enough accusations, lies, tears, and drama to turn even the best of friends–let alone three women who married the same man–into adversaries. As his unlikely family says good-bye to the man who brought them
together–for better or worse–will they be able to put aside their differences long enough to raise a glass in Deacon’s honor?

Ope’s Opinion:  This book read like a day time soap opera.  There were multiple marriages, affairs, drug abuse, lies, and drama all over the place.  The Nantucket house never saw a dull moment.

Laurel was the only character that I had some sympathy toward and had some moral standards.  Angie blindly loved her father and I understood how she had difficulty with relationships – she was watching all the other females in her life, who weren’t able to give her a decent road map.

The chapter before the epilogue wrapped up everyone’s story.  The epilogue went back to Deacon’s story.

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This Just In….

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Purchased from Barnes and Noble:

things you won't say

Published: May 26, 2015
Publisher: Washington Square Press

Goodreads:  In this timely and provocative novel, internationally bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen takes us inside a family in crisis and a marriage on the brink after a tragic shooting.

How far would you go to save your family?

Every morning, as her husband Mike straps on his SIG Sauer and pulls on his heavy Magnum boots, Jamie Anderson tenses up. Then comes the call she has always dreaded: There’s been a shooting at police headquarters. Mike isn’t hurt, but his long-time partner is grievously injured. As weeks pass and her husband’s insomnia and disconnectedness mount, Jamie realizes he is an invisible casualty of the attack. Then the phone rings again. Another shooting but this time Mike has pulled the trigger.

But the shooting does more than just alter Jamie’s world. It’s about to change everything for two other women. Christie Simmons, Mike’s flamboyant ex, sees the tragedy as an opportunity for a second chance with Mike. And Jamie’s younger sister, Lou, must face her own losses to help the big sister who raised her. As the press descends and public cries of police brutality swell, Jamie tries desperately to hold together her family, no matter what it takes.

In her characteristic exploration of true-to-life relationships, Sarah Pekkanen has written a complex, compelling, and openhearted novel her best yet.

Kristin of Kritters Ramblings  introduced me to Sarah Pekkanen’s books,
now I can’t get enough of them!  She is awesome!

 

unexpected everything

Published: May 3, 2016
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Goodreads:  Andie had it all planned out.

When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future.

Important internship? Check.

Amazing friends? Check.

Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks).

But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life.

Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected.

And where’s the fun in that?

Morgan Matson hasn’t written a book I don’t love!!

Someone Like You

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Author: Victoria Bylin                     someone
Publisher: Bethany House
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Bethany House

 

 

Goodreads:  Julia Dare is trying to run her own business, raise her young son, Max, and help her widowed mother. Her biggest worry, though, is keeping Max’s father from being a bad influence while still allowing the boy to spend time with his dad. When an account from her event-planning business sends her to Caliente Springs resort, she’s shocked to encounter Zeke Monroe, her college sweetheart.

Zeke is determined to keep Caliente Springs running despite financial trouble. When Julia walks back into his life, he’s surprised at the feelings she stirs up. As they work together on an important client’s wedding, the fate of the resort soon depends on their success. With Zeke and Julia both pushed to their limits, will their history put up walls between them or bring them together?

Ope’s Opinion:  This is definitely a Christian Fiction book.  God is the center of this book from beginning to end.  It is not preachy, just God centered.  It should be in every church library.  The characters are all different ages and stages of life and stages in their Christian walk with God. 

The description of the resort setting took me away!  I felt like I was sitting there ( and I wanted to stay there ).  It was a nice back drop for falling in love.

I could have lived without the goat in the story.  That part felt a little cheesy to me.  It didn’t ruin the book, but it didn’t feel like it added anything either.

Thank you Victoria Bylin for making sure I received a copy of your book.

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One Paris Summer

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one paris summer

Author: Denise Grover Swank
Publisher: Blink
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Source: BEA 2016

Goodreads:  Most teens dream of visiting the City of Lights, but it feels more like a nightmare for Sophie Brooks. She and her brother are sent to Paris to spend the summer with their father, who left home a year ago without any explanation. As if his sudden abandonment weren’t betrayal enough, he’s about to remarry, and they’re expected to play nice with his soon-to-be wife and stepdaughter. The stepdaughter, Camille, agrees to show them around the city, but she makes it clear that she will do everything in her power to make Sophie miserable.

Sophie could deal with all the pain and humiliation if only she could practice piano. Her dream is to become a pianist, and she was supposed to spend the summer preparing for a scholarship competition. Even though her father moved to Paris to pursue his own dream, he clearly doesn’t support hers. His promise to provide her with a piano goes unfulfilled.

Still, no one is immune to Paris’s charm. After a few encounters with a gorgeous French boy, Sophie finds herself warming to the city, particularly when she discovers that he can help her practice piano. There’s just one hitch—he’s a friend of Camille’s, and Camille hates Sophie. While the summer Sophie dreaded promises to become best summer of her life, one person could ruin it all.

Ope’s Opinion: This is definitely a YA I would encourage my student to read.  It has a lot of relationships that are easy to relate to.  The characters are typical high school students.  They have relationships with each other that are up and down.  The parents are very involved in the students lives – I like that.

I just wanted to keep reading this book.  It had a nice flow of tension, quiet and tension through the whole book.

It was great to see Sophie so focused on her piano.  She was interested in Mathieu, but he wasn’t her sole focus. I like the well rounded characters Swank created.  These are good examples to read about.

At BEA each year, I try to pick up an author that is new to me.  This was my pick this year and it was a hit! I will be looking into Denise Grover Swank’s other books.

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This Just In….

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From HarperCollins:

forever beach

Publication Date: June 7, 2016
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Goodreads:  From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Colors and Breakwater Bay comes this heartwarming story of love, family, and redemption. Two young girls pledged to be best friends forever. Separated by circumstance and hurt, they are reunited years later as they struggle to put their differences aside for the sake of a special little girl—perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Jane Green, and Kristin Hannah.

Two women…
One little girl…
Can they forgive the past in order to ensure the future of an innocent child…?

Once a foster child herself, Sarah Hargreave can’t wait to finalize the adoption of her foster daughter Leila. Sarah longs to give her all the love and stability she was denied in her own childhood. She’s put her own friendships and even her relationship with Wyatt, her longtime lover, on hold in order to give Leila her full attention.

When Leila’s biological mother suddenly reappears and petitions the court for the return of her daughter, Sarah is terrified she’ll lose the little girl she’s come to love as her own. Convinced the mother is still addicted to drugs, Sarah and her social worker enlist the help of high profile family lawyer, Ilona Cartwright. But when they meet, Sarah recognizes her as Nonie Blanchard who grew up in the same group foster home as Sarah. They’d promised to be best friends forever, then Nonie was adopted by a wealthy family, and Sarah never heard from her again. Sarah still hurts from the betrayal. But Nonie harbors her own resentment toward Sarah who she believes abandoned her when she needed her most.

Mistrustful of each other, the two women form a tenuous alliance to ensure Leila’s future, but when Leila’s very survival is on the line, they’ll have to come to terms with their own feelings of hurt and rejection to save the child they both have come to love.

I love a book with the beach on the cover and  a good story too!

the perfect girlPublished: March 3, 2016
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Goodreads:  To everyone who knows her now, Zoe Maisey – child genius, musical sensation – is perfect. Yet several years ago, Zoe caused the death of three teenagers. She served her time. And now she’s free.

Her story begins with her giving the performance of her life.

By midnight, her mother is dead.

The Perfect Girl is an intricate exploration into the mind of a teenager burdened by brilliance. It’s a story about the wrongs in our past not letting go and how hard we must fight for second chances.

This one looks scary good!

bookshop

Publication Date: September 20, 2016
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Goodreads: “Losing myself in Jenny Colgan’s beautiful pages is the most delicious, comforting, satisfying treat I have had in ages.”—Jane Green, New York Times bestselling author of Summer Secrets

Nina Redmond is a librarian with a gift for finding the perfect book for her readers. But can she write her own happy-ever-after? In this valentine to readers, librarians, and book-lovers the world over, the New York Times-bestselling author of Little Beach Street Bakery returns with a funny, moving new novel for fans of Meg Donohue, Sophie Kinsella, and Nina George’s The Little Paris Bookshop.

Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more.

Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile—a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.

From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

When I am done reading this one, I want to frame the cover!

Thank you HarperCollins for sending  great books for me to read!