Tag Archives: books

Coming Soon….

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… On a Bookshelf Near You !

This is what I am looking forward to in September.
I have read the first two books of this series
The Good Woman, The Good Daughter, and now…

the good wife

Publication date:  September 3, 2013
Publisher: Berkley Trade

Goodreads:  Is it possible to love someone too much?

Always considered the beauty of the family, the youngest Brennan sister, Sarah, remains deeply in love with her husband of ten years. Boone Walker, a professional baseball player, travels almost year-round while Sarah stays home and cares for their two children. Her love for her husband is bottomless—so much so that her sisters say it will end up hurting her.

Living apart most of the time makes life difficult, especially since Sarah often wonders whether Boone is sharing his bed with other women on the road, even though he swears he’s been true to her since his infidelity three years ago. While she wants to be happy and move forward in her life, Sarah constantly fears that Boone will break his promise. Now with Boone facing yet another career change, tension rises between the two, adding more stress to an already turbulent marriage. Emotionally exhausted, Sarah can’t cope with yet another storm. Now, she must either break free from the past and forgive Boone completely, or leave him behind and start anew . .

What is coming soon…. On a bookshelf near you?
 Let me know – I am always looking for a good read! 

The Hero

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Author: Robyn Carr                                 the hero
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Pages: 384
Genre:  Romance
Source: Little Bird Publicity

Goodreads:  

http://www.robyncarr.comWith warmth and sensitivity, #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr shows readers that falling in love can be the bravest act of all.

In a moment of desperation, Devon McAllister takes her daughter and flees a place where they should have been safe and secure. She has no idea what is around the next bend, but she is pretty certain it can’t be worse than what they’ve left behind. Her plan is to escape to somewhere she can be invisible. Instead, an unexpected offer of assistance leads her to Thunder Point, a tiny Oregon town with a willingness to help someone in need.

As the widowed father of a vulnerable young boy, Spencer Lawson knows something about needing friendship. But he’s not looking for anything else. Instead, he’s thrown his energy into his new role as Thunder Point’s high school football coach. Tough and demanding to his team, off the field he’s gentle and kind…just the kind of man who could heal Devon’s wounded heart.

Devon thought she wanted to hide from the world. But in Thunder Point, you find bravery where you least expect it…and sometimes, you find a hero.

Ope’s Opinion:  I really do like Robyn Carr’s books.  The first two in this series I rated four chairs.  This one only got three chairs because I liked the main characters in the first two books better then this book.  This book in the series seemed to move a little slower then the other two. 

I really do like how we were updated about the other people in Thunder Point.  It is fun to watch their relationships grow and change.

This was a good book and I am looking forward to the next one.

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

3 chairs

FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from Little Bird Publicity. 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.

The Newcomer

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Author:  Robyn Carr                                                                       Manually Released
Publisher:  Harlequin MIRA
Pages:  368
Genre:  Contemporary Romance                        
Source: Kristi of Kritters Ramblings

Goodreads:
With humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr looks at letting go of the past-and knowing when you’ve found something worth building your future on

Single dad and Thunder Point’s deputy sheriff “Mac” McCain has worked hard to keep everyone safe and happy. Now he’s found his own happiness with Gina James. The longtime friends have always shared the challenges and rewards of raising their adolescent daughters. With an unexpected romance growing between them, they’re feeling like teenagers themselves-suddenly they can’t get enough of one another.

And just when things are really taking off, their lives are suddenly thrown into chaos. When Mac’s long-lost-and not missed-ex-wife shows up in town, drama takes on a whole new meaning. They’re wondering if their new feelings for each other can withstand the pressure…but they are not going down without a fight.

Step into the world of Thunder Point, a little town on the Oregon coast where newcomers are welcomed, hearts are broken and mended, and the dramas of everyday life keep the locals laughing, crying and falling in love.

Ope’s Opinion:  This is the second book in the Thunder Point series.  You don’t have to read the first one of the series to enjoy this one, but it does make it better.  Knowing all the characters and their relationships make it real easy to get into the story.

As usual Robyn Carr knows how to weave all the story lines together.  Each family has issues to deal with, but they handle in such a way you don’t feel burdened while reading.  You know all the situations will be worked out – how they will be settled in the end your not sure.

I always feel like I learn something reading her books, but I am lectured to.  One character deals with depression from being cyber bullied.  It is interesting to learn how they dealt with depression and the signs to look for in someone.
I am looking to the next book set in Thunder Point.  I am sure Robyn Carr will deliver as usual.

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
Ope's Rating System

The Witness

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Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher:  Berkley Trade                        the witness
Pages: 544
Genre:  Romance/ Suspense
Source: My friend Robyn

Goodreads:  In her stunning new novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts proves why no one is better “when it comes to flawlessly fusing high-stakes suspense with red-hot romance” (Booklist). 

Daughter of a cold, controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth Fitch finally let loose one night, drinking too much at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent to lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive. 

Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance security systems programmer, her own protection is supplemented by a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. Unfortunately, that seems to be the quickest way to get attention in a tiny southern town. 

The mystery of Abigail Lowery and her sharp mind, secretive nature, and unromantic viewpoints intrigues local police chief Brooks Gleason, on both a personal and professional level. And while he suspects that Abigail needs protection from something, Gleason is accustomed to two-bit troublemakers, not the powerful and dangerous men who are about to have him in their sights. 

And Abigail Lowery, who has built a life based on security and self-control, is at risk of losing both.

Ope’s Opinion: The central story in this book was very good.  But there were too many side stories that didn’t have anything to do with/or add anything to the main story. If the book had been shorter, it would have kept my attention so much better.
The main part of the story was repeated a few different times to different characters – it should have just been summarized.
I did like Elizabeth and I did want her to be safe and happy, but the tension in the story was lost when the story went off to other tangents.

Rating: Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.
3 chairs

Three Sisters

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Author:  Susan Mallerythree sisters
Publisher:  Harlequin MIRA
Pages:  325
Genre:  Romance
Source:  Library

Goodreads:   After Andi Gordon is jilted at the altar, she makes the most impetuous decision of her life – buying one of the famed Three Sisters Queen Anne houses on Blackberry Island. Now the proud-ish owner of the ugly duckling of the trio, she plans to open her own pediatric office on the first floor, just as soon as her hunky contractor completes the work. Andi’s new future may be coming together, but the truth is she’s just as badly in need of a major renovation as her house.

When Deanna Phillips confronts her husband about a suspected affair, she opens up a Pandora’s Box of unhappiness. And he claims that she is the problem. The terrible thing is, he’s right. In her quest to be the perfect woman, she’s lost herself, and she’s in danger of losing her entire family if things don’t change. 

Next door, artist Boston King thought she and her college sweetheart would be married forever. Their passion for one other has always seemed indestructible. But after tragedy tears them apart, she’s not so sure. Now it’s time for them to move forward, with or without one another. 

Thrown together by fate and geography, and bound by the strongest of friendships, these three women will discover what they’re really made of: laughter, tears, love and all.

Ope’s Opinion:  Susan Mallery hit another home run!  This book read so fast!  The story of all three women were relatable and fast moving.  It was great to see each woman’s story move forward in each chapter.  It made it seem more like real time.  

The intimate details of the romance  is my least favorite part, but at least each woman was with only one man.  They were real relationships with flaws and heart felt struggles.  As you read, you will want each woman to be happy at the end.  You can’t help but route for them.

I want more of the Blackberry Island books!  This may be my favorite Susan Mallery book to date.  So keep writing!

Rating: Four Chairs – I like the book so much I know several friends to share it with.

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Coming Soon…..

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…   On a Bookshelf Near You!!
 
 
This is a look into what I am excited about coming in August.
This book is on my e reader.
Publication date:  August 13, 2013
Publisher:  Ballantine Books
Goodreads:  Hailed as “the reigning queen of women’s fiction” (The Sacramento Bee), #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber is renowned for her novels of love, friendship, and the promise of fresh starts. Now Macomber returns to the charming Rose Harbor Inn, where each guest finds a second chance and every room comes with an inspiring new view.


Since moving to Cedar Cove, Jo Marie Rose has truly started to feel at home, and her neighbors have become her closest friends. Now it’s springtime, and Jo Marie is eager to finish the most recent addition to her inn. In memory of her late husband, Paul, she has designed a beautiful rose garden for the property and enlisted handyman Mark Taylor to help realize it. She and Mark don’t always see eye-to-eye—and at times he seems far removed—yet deep down, Jo Marie finds great comfort in his company. And while she still seeks a sense of closure, she welcomes her latest guests, who are on their own healing journeys.

Annie Newton arrives in town to orchestrate her grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration. While Annie is excited for the festivities, she’s struggling to move on from her broken engagement, and her grandparents themselves seem to be having trouble getting along. Worse, Annie is forced to see Oliver Sutton, with whom she grew up and who has always mercilessly teased her. But the best parties end with a surprise, and Annie is in for the biggest one of all.

High-powered businesswoman Mary Smith, another Rose Harbor Inn guest, has achieved incredible success in her field, yet serious illness has led her to face her sole, lingering regret. Almost nineteen years ago, she ended her relationship with her true love, George Hudson, and now she’s returned to Cedar Cove to make amends.

 
What is coming soon…. On a bookshelf near you?  Let me know  – I am always looking for a good read!

Baltimore Book Weekend!!

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Come along for a weekend of books with my daughter Kristi of Kritters Ramblings  and I!   We left Tyson’s Corner, VA Saturday early morning to head off to Baltimore for a couple of days drenched in books!  Our first stop was a place called The Book Thing.

This is a very small glimpse into the selection of books they have.  They replenish them as fast as you can take one off the shelf.  All the books here are donated and are free for the taking.  Here is my list of books I brought home:

Defending Jacob by William Landay
Bulls Island by Dorothea Benton Frank
Custody by Nancy Thayer
Everlasting by Nancy Thayer
The Hot Flash Club by Nancy Thayer
The Hot Flash Club Chills Out by Nancy Thayer
House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson
The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe
The Four Seasons by Mary Alice Monroe
The Summer I Dared by Barbara Delinsky
The Total Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
and for my granddaughter’s shelf:  Superfudge by Judy Blume

We hope to return to this book place to donate so someone else will go home as happy as we did!

Next stop was The Ivy Bookshop.

The inside of the bookstore is awesome, friendly and spacious.  Look on line for more pictures.  There was a really nice section for children, a comfortable seating area and a lot of great fiction books to choose from.  I only bought one book here because we were able to get so many from The Book Thing and we had more places to go.  My pick here was Jane Green’s book  The Beach House.
We decided to eat near our next book stop.  So we head to Ukazoo book store and found a fabulous place called  Razorback’s Raw Bar & Grill.  It had the best Cream of Crab soup!  I want to go back for the bookstore at this stop, but I also want to go back for the lunch stop!  The book store at this stop is called Ukazoo Books!  I love the name and the store!

This was my favorite stop!  The books inside are priced so you feel like you can shop and they have a buy three get one free!  What more could you want?  I found so many books I wanted here, but I limited myself to four for me and four for my granddaughter! Here is my Ukazoo list:
Between the Tides by Patti Callahan Henry
Love Starts with Elle by Rachel Hauck
Between Husbands & Friends by Nancy Thayer
Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
It was time to go to the hotel to check in and regroup. So we headed to the Hyatt Hotel at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore – thank you to my husband for the stay!  It had a beautiful view and was within walking distance to a couple of bookstores.  One was called The Book Escape.  It was a small store packed with options at good prices.  I bought Jane Green’s The Other Woman.
Then we ate at Phillips Seafood which is next to Barnes and Noble at the Inner Harbor.  It is a beautiful setting on the water.  It used to be a power plant.  It is such a unique B& N.
At B&N I bought :
Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck
Holding the Dream by Nora Roberts
Finding the Dream by Nora Roberts
That evening we sat outside drinking Starbucks and reading until it started raining on us!  Such fun!
Sunday morning we stopped back by The Book Thing to see if we missed anything.  We found a couple of things ( listed above ) and headed to a bookstore called Red Canoe Bookstore Cafe.  It was more of a Cafe then bookstore, but really cute and fun to see!
Our last stop was Daedalus Book Warehouse.  It was a great stop.  I think by the time we got here I was “booked” out!  Kristi found a couple of things she wanted.  I ended up not buying anything, but enjoyed the stop.
When we go back, my favorite two stops were The Book Thing and Ukazoo!  We will take my other daughter Jennifer of The Underestimated Mom and we will eat lunch at Razorback Raw Bar & Grill.
Hope you enjoyed our weekend!!  It was really awesome!

The Wednesday Sisters

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Author:  Meg Waite Clayton
Publisher: Ballentine Books
Pages:  320
Genre:  Historical Fiction

Source:  My Daughter

Goodreads:   Friendship, loyalty, and love lie at the heart of Meg Waite Clayton’s beautifully written, poignant, and sweeping novel of five women who, over the course of four decades, come to redefine what it means to be family.

For thirty-five years, Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett, and Ally have met every Wednesday at the park near their homes in Palo Alto, California. Defined when they first meet by what their husbands do, the young homemakers and mothers are far removed from the Summer of Love that has enveloped most of the Bay Area in 1967. These “Wednesday Sisters” seem to have little in common: Frankie is a timid transplant from Chicago, brutally blunt Linda is a remarkable athlete, Kath is a Kentucky debutante, quiet Ally has a secret, and quirky, ultra-intelligent Brett wears little white gloves with her miniskirts. But they are bonded by a shared love of both literature–Fitzgerald, Eliot, Austen, du Maurier, Plath, and Dickens–and the Miss America Pageant, which they watch together every year.

As the years roll on and their children grow, the quintet forms a writers circle to express their hopes and dreams through poems, stories, and, eventually, books. Along the way, they experience history in the making: Vietnam, the race for the moon, and a women’s movement that challenges everything they have ever thought about themselves, while at the same time supporting one another through changes in their personal lives brought on by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success.

Humorous and moving, The Wednesday Sisters is a literary feast for book lovers that earns a place among those popular works that honor the joyful, mysterious, unbreakable bonds between friends.

 
Ope’s Opinion:  When you read my review, you should take into consideration that I am not a fan of historical fiction in general.  My daughter Kristi of Kritters Ramblings  gave this book an awesome review, so read her thoughts as well as mine.
 
                                       I did like the friendship the five women had.   I also thought it was kept in the time period accurately.  I just got lost in all the details that Meg put into the story.
 
                                       I found the idea of five women all writing to be unlikely.  It felt like the ones who did want to be writers were pushing the others into writing.  I wanted to see each woman’s interest supported, not just the writers.  
 
                                   It did show me that friendships don’t seem to change.  No matter the time period (historical or present time) we need our friendships – they meet the same need now as they did in the past.
 
Rating:  Two Chairs – I may have one friend who might like this book.