Saving Beck by Courtney Cole…Teaser Blitz

 

 

Reminiscent of the beloved novels by Mary Kubica and Jodi Picoult comes a chilling portrayal of a son’s addiction and its harrowing effects on both him and his mother from New York Times bestselling author Courtney Cole.SAVING BECK releases July 17, 2018. Check out the teaser below, and pre-order your copy of SAVING BECK today!

 

 

SAVING BECK Synopsis:

There comes a time when offering your life for your child’s doesn’t work, when you realize that it’ll never be enough.

The cold needle in his warm vein was a welcome comfort to my son at first. But then it became the monster that kept us apart.

Heroin lied, and my son believed. It took him to a world where the last year didn’t happen, to a place where his father was still alive. What Beck didn’t understand was that it couldn’t bring his father back from the dead. It couldn’t take away his pain, not permanently.

You think it can’t happen to you, that your kids, your family, will never be in this situation.
I thought that too. But you’re wrong.

Step into our world, and see for yourself.
Watch my golden boy become a slave to this raging epidemic. Watch me try and save him.

Drug addiction comes with a price.
Trust me, you’re not equipped to pay it.

Don’t miss this heart wrenching, evocative, yet hopeful novel—it will leave you forever changed.

 

Pre-order SAVING BECK here!

Amazon Hardcover | Kindle | Nook | Barnes & Noble Hardcover

iBooks | B-A-M | Kobo | IndieBound | Audible

Add it to your Goodreads Now!

 

 

About Courtney Cole:

Courtney Cole grew up in rural Kansas and now lives with her husband and kids in Florida, where she writes beneath palm trees and is still in love with the idea of magic and happily-ever-after. She is the author of Saving Beck.

 

 

 

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

 

Excerpt Reveal…Saving Beck by Courtney Cole

 

 

Reminiscent of the beloved novels by Mary Kubica and Jodi Picoult comes a chilling portrayal of a son’s addiction and its harrowing effects on both him and his mother from New York Times bestselling author Courtney Cole. SAVING BECK releases July 17, 2018. Check out the sneak peek below, and pre-order your copy of SAVING BECK today!

 

 

SAVING BECK Synopsis:

There comes a time when offering your life for your child’s doesn’t work, when you realize that it’ll never be enough.

The cold needle in his warm vein was a welcome comfort to my son at first. But then it became the monster that kept us apart.

Heroin lied, and my son believed. It took him to a world where the last year didn’t happen, to a place where his father was still alive. What Beck didn’t understand was that it couldn’t bring his father back from the dead. It couldn’t take away his pain, not permanently.

You think it can’t happen to you, that your kids, your family, will never be in this situation.
I thought that too. But you’re wrong.

Step into our world, and see for yourself.
Watch my golden boy become a slave to this raging epidemic. Watch me try and save him.

Drug addiction comes with a price.
Trust me, you’re not equipped to pay it.

Don’t miss this heart wrenching, evocative, yet hopeful novel—it will leave you forever changed.

 

Pre-order SAVING BECK here!

Amazon Hardcover | Kindle | Nook | Barnes & Noble Hardcover

iBooks | B-A-M | Kobo | IndieBound | Audible

 

 

 

 

EXCERPT:

The hospital is a beacon of light and hope as we pull in. I barely remember to put my car in park before I jump out and I leave it in the middle of the lane, the tires wrenched haphazardly toward the curb.

“Ma’am, you can’t park there,” a guy in a security uniform says with his fake badge, but I don’t answer. I toss him my keys and push my way to the doors, and that’s when I see him.

My son.

They’ve pulled him out of the ambulance, and he’s so still, so white. He’s got the body of a man and the face of a boy, and he’s got vomit in his hair. One hand dangles over the edge of the gurney, orange flecks dripping from his fingers to the floor, but no one notices, no one cares.

“Beck,” I breathe, and he doesn’t open his eyes. “Beck,” I say louder, as loud as I can. His mouth is slack, but he’s not dead, he can’t be dead because someone is pumping his heart with her fist. She’s running next to the gurney, and she’s pounding on his heart, making it beat.

“Coming through,” she yells at the doors, and there is a team of people working on him. They’re frantic, and that’s not good.

I chase after them, through the emergency room, through the people, but someone grabs me at a giant set of double-doors, the gateway to the important rooms.

“You can’t go in there,” a nurse tells me.

“That’s my son,” I try to tell her, but she doesn’t care. “Beck,” I scream, and I try to see through the windows, but I can’t because he’s gone. “I love you, Beck. Stay here. Stay here.”

The nurse grasps my arm, and I can’t stand anymore. My legs are tired and the adrenaline… it numbs me. I collapse beside her and she tries to hold me up, but she can’t… I’m on the ground.

My face is wet, when did I start crying?

“You have to save my son,” I beg her, my fingers curled into her arm. I stare into her eyes. Hers are green, ringed with blue, and she looks away. Something about her seems so familiar, something about those eyes.

“We’ll try, ma’am,” she says uncertainly. It’s the uncertainty that kills me. “We’ll do everything we can. I’m going to take you to a quiet room, and give you a blanket. Is there anyone I can call for you?”

I shake my head. “No. I already called my sister.”

“Okay,” the nurse says quietly and her name tag says Jessica. She takes me to a waiting room, a quiet private one, the ones they use when the outcome might not be good. I know that because I’ve been here before.

I swallow hard and she puts a cup of coffee in my hand.

As she does, she pushes a stray hair out of her face and her bracelet catches my eye. A simple chain with a silver dolphin on it. I’ve seen it before.

“You were here the night my husband was brought in,” I realize slowly. “Weren’t you? Do you remember me?”

It was a year ago. A year, two months… I check my watch… six days and twenty-two hours ago. Of course she doesn’t remember me.

But Jessica nods.

“I’m so sorry about your husband,” she tells me now, her voice quiet and thick. “I swear to you, we did everything we could.”

“I know,” I tell her. Because I do. The accident was so bad, there’s no way anyone could’ve survived. Except for Beck. He lived. But Matt...his injuries were insurmountable. That’s what the doctor told me that night.

I stare at the door, and this is the same room and that is the same door, and this is the same blue-tiled floor. For a minute, I’m back in that moment, and the doctor is coming in. I’d waited for hours and his face was so grave and I knew, I knew, before he could utter a word.

I shook my head because I didn’t want to hear what was coming next, but he spoke anyway.

Matt’s injuries were insurmountable, he’d said. We did everything we could.

But everything wasn’t enough, and my husband died.

“Is it a different doctor tonight?” I ask suddenly. “I need a different doctor. One who can save my son.”

I know it’s illogical. I know it was never the doctor’s fault, but it doesn’t matter because Jessica is nodding. “It’s a different doctor tonight,” she tells me. “Dr. Grant, and he’s very, very good.”

“Okay,” I whisper. “Okay.”

“If you need anything, you tell me,” Jessica says and I can see that she means it. She likes me. Or she feels sorry for me. It doesn’t matter which. I nod and she’s gone, and I’m alone.

Just like I was a year ago, and just like that night all I can do is pace.

I’m a caged mama wolf and there’s nothing I can do, but I know that if I stop moving, Beck might die. My energy is attached to his energy. I have to move. It all depends on me.

So I walk in circles.

I walk six paces, over the six white tiles, then I turn, taking three steps over the blue. I tread back six paces over the white, and then turn again, taking three more over the blue.

I will not stop, Beck. I won’t fail you. I won’t.

It becomes rhythmic, and I match my breaths with my steps. I’m a machine, a time-keeper, a being made of clock-work as I walk in circles, marking time. Every step I take, Beck is still alive. I feel it in my heart. It’s all up to me.

 

 

Add it to your Goodreads Now!

 

 

 

 

About Courtney Cole:

Courtney Cole grew up in rural Kansas and now lives with her husband and kids in Florida, where she writes beneath palm trees and is still in love with the idea of magic and happily-ever-after. She is the author of Saving Beck.

 

 

 

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

 

Teaser Blitz…Saving Beck by Courtney Cole

 

 

Reminiscent of the beloved novels by Mary Kubica and Jodi Picoult comes a chilling portrayal of a son’s addiction and its harrowing effects on both him and his mother from New York Times bestselling author Courtney Cole. SAVING BECK releases July 17, 2018. Check out the teaser below, and pre-order your copy of SAVING BECK today!

 

 

SAVING BECK Synopsis:

There comes a time when offering your life for your child’s doesn’t work, when you realize that it’ll never be enough.

The cold needle in his warm vein was a welcome comfort to my son at first. But then it became the monster that kept us apart.

Heroin lied, and my son believed. It took him to a world where the last year didn’t happen, to a place where his father was still alive. What Beck didn’t understand was that it couldn’t bring his father back from the dead. It couldn’t take away his pain, not permanently.

You think it can’t happen to you, that your kids, your family, will never be in this situation.
I thought that too. But you’re wrong.

Step into our world, and see for yourself.
Watch my golden boy become a slave to this raging epidemic. Watch me try and save him.

Drug addiction comes with a price.
Trust me, you’re not equipped to pay it.

Don’t miss this heart wrenching, evocative, yet hopeful novel—it will leave you forever changed.

 

 

Pre-order SAVING BECK here!

Amazon Hardcover | Kindle | Nook | Barnes & Noble Hardcover

iBooks | B-A-M | Kobo | IndieBound | Audible

 

Add it to your Goodreads Now!

 

 

 

 

About Courtney Cole:

Courtney Cole grew up in rural Kansas and now lives with her husband and kids in Florida, where she writes beneath palm trees and is still in love with the idea of magic and happily-ever-after. She is the author of Saving Beck.

 

 

 

 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

 

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren…ARC Review

Love and Other Words is out TODAY!

 

Synopsis:

Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first women’s fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).

The story of the heart can never be unwritten.

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.

But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother…only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.

Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.

 

My Review:

Being a huge fan of this writing duo, I was beyond excited to get my hands on an early copy of their newest book. From the very first chapter I knew this was going to be an unforgettable read, and boy was I right. It was simply sublime.

This is a different book we are used to reading from Christina Lauren and it really showcased the talent these two authors hold.  These characters and this story were so fresh, so lovable, so memorable. It’s a story of living a childhood filled with both pain and wonder.  About finding that one person you connect with through the happiest of times and the most trying of times.  About an unbreakable soul-deep connection you can never break, no matter what ups and downs you experience with that person.  It’s a story about forgiveness and love.  A story about learning to let go of the past and embrace what the future may hold.  A story that is so well written you will connect with every word on every page.

I don’t know how these authors do it, but they manage to create worlds that capture a reader every single time.  There were so many reason to love this story.  Macy is an honest and vulnerable gal. Elliott is her total equal in both of those respects. Together they begin as two beautifully endearing kids and grow into interesting and admirable adults.  Unfortunately, there is a painful moment that interrupted their relationship and after years apart fate sees to it that they have the chance to mend what’s been broken between them. What starts out as a relationship of innocence and first love turns into a beautifully emotional and lasting bond built on the love they found when they first met. Truly a love story for the ages!

If I’m being honest, there’s no way I can adequately tell you just how much I adored this book! I laughed, I cried, I devoured every page and this is a book I recommend on the highest level.

Thank you, Christina and Lauren, for this memorable and heartwarming story! #TeamMelliottFOREVA

Five Loves

 

Book Links:

Amazon  |  B&N iBooks  |  Goodreads

More retailers from the author’s website can be found HERE

 

 

About the authors (form the author website):

Yes, there are two of us! Lauren (on the left) and Christina (on the right).

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The #1 international bestselling coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. They are published in over 30 languages, have received starred reviews from Kirkus ReviewsLibrary Journal and Publishers Weekly, won both the Seal of Excellence and Book of the Year from RT Magazine, named Amazon and Audible Romance of the Year, and been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. They have been featured in publications such as ForbesThe Washington PostTimeEntertainment Weekly, People, O Magazine and more. Their third YA novel, Autoboyography was released in September, followed by a contemporary romance, Roomies in December, and their first Women’s Fiction, Love and Other Words in April.

clo


Lauren Billings
 (but everyone calls her Lo) has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and before she made writing her full-time job, would spend her days doing nerdy research-type things wearing a lab coat and goggles. She is silly Mommy to two littles, wife to one mountain biking homebrewing scientist, and an unabashed lover of YA and romance.

Christina Hobbs (but you’ll always hear Lo call her PQ) used to spend her days in a junior high counseling office surrounded by teenagers. These days you can find her at her desk, writing or watching BTS videos. She grew up in Utah and is absolutely not old enough to be the mom of a 17 year old (right??), thinks she’s the luckiest person in the world to write books with her best friend, and is an unapologetic lover of boy bands and glitter.

You can follow their shenanigans at:

@lolashoes (Lauren) & @seeCwrite (Christina) on Twitter. On Tumblr! where we post kissing gifs and writerly stuff and Wattpad for short stories and sneak peeks!

For official information about their books, events, interviews, movie/TV news and more, follow @christinalauren.

 

Still Me by Jojo Moyes…ARC Review

Still Me is out tomorrow, 1/30/18!

 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, a new book featuring her iconic heroine of Me Before You and After You, Louisa Clark

Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life.

As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself: Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you reconcile a heart that lives in two places?

Funny, romantic, and poignant, Still Me follows Lou as she navigates how to stay true to herself, while pushing to live boldly in her brave new world.

 

My Review:

Still Me is the third book in author Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You Series and if you’ve read the series thus far, and you’ve been waiting to catch up with our gal Louisa, this is your chance.

It’s in this book that Louisa is really faced with finding out who she is…who she truly is and who she wants to be.  It’s safe to say her life’s journey hasn’t been an easy one and her new adventure in New York City will prove to have its own set of ups and downs.  But man, what a special chapter in her life this books ends up being.

When Louisa starts her job as an “assistant” of sorts to an uber wealthy, young, second wife socialite, she figured it would be a refreshing change of pace.  Reading her optimistic and awestruck view of high society was almost like watching a horror film.  You know, when the girl is going to look in the basement and you scream at the TV telling her to just run out of the house.  Yeah, that.  This family runs hot and cold, always showing a hint of dysfunction simmering beneath the surface, but Louisa always tries to look on the bright side of her situation and takes it all with a grain of salt.  Until one day she finds herself in quite a pickle.  Things come crashing down quickly, like that girl from the horror movie who ended up checking out the basement (except not life-ending or gory).  It’s then, when all the chips are down, Louisa really shines and I wanted to hoot and holler for her and the path she finally put herself on.  I do believe I actually said “atta girl!” out loud a few times!

Of course, the book doesn’t just focus on her employers.  The other characters in this book were just as fabulous.  Form the warm-hearted doorman and his wife, to the old curmudgeon and her dog named Dean Martin living down the hall who eventually becomes someone irreplaceable in Louisa’s life, I adored them all.  Well, except one.  I’ll let you figure out who that is on your own and I have a feeling you’ll feel the same way I did about him by the end of the book.

There were so many ups and downs and more than a few times I felt myself not sure of which direction I would go if I were in Louisa’s shoes.  Who could she really trust and rely on in this brand new world she was living in?  Who would appreciate her for just being her? Thankfully, after some serious soul-searching and more than a few tears (more mine than hers – because she’s a tough cookie) she gets it all squared away and I could not be happier with how it ended.  Man, that last page was everything! *dreamy sigh*

Overall I think fans of the series will love picking up with the endearing, quirky, kindhearted Louisa and will enjoy this newest tale.  I know I sure did!  (Oh, and you won’t need as many tissues as the other books but you’ll still need some!)

Thank you, Ms. Moyes, for a wonderful read.

Four-and-a-Half Loves

 

Book Links:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books a Million

iBooks

Powell’s Books

Indie Bound

 

About the author:

Jojo Moyes wJojoMoyes c Stine Heilmann 2014as born in 1969 and grew up in London. After a varied career including stints as a minicab controller, typer of braille statements for blind people for NatWest, and brochure writer for Club 18-30, she did a degree at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, London University. In 1992, she won a bursary financed by The Independent newspaper to attend the postgraduate newspaper journalism course at City University.

Jojo worked as a journalist for ten years, including a year at South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, and nine at The Independent where she worked variously as News Reporter, Assistant News Editor and Arts and Media Correspondent.

Jojo has been a full time novelist since 2002, when her first book, Sheltering Rain was published. Since then she has written a further eleven novels, all of which have been widely critically acclaimed.

Jojo has won the Romantic Novelist’s Award twice, and Me Before You has been nominated for Book of the Year at the UK Galaxy Book Awards. Me Before You has since gone on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide.

The film adaptation of Me Before You starring Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games) and Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) was released in June 2016 and was a huge box-office success. The screenplay was written by Jojo.

For more information about all of Jojo’s novels, please visit the books page here.

Jojo lives (and writes!) on a farm in Essex, England with her husband, journalist Charles Arthur, and their three children.

Visit her WEBSITE for more information

Most Of All You by Mia Sheridan…Release Day Blitz & Review

 

MOST OF ALL YOU by Mia Sheridan

On sale: October 17, 2017 | Forever | Trade Paperback: $14.99 | eBook: $4.99

SUMMARY

“Heartbreaking…inspiring, uplifting and raw…” ― RT Book Reviews, A 5-star Gold Pick

A broken woman . . .

Crystal learned long ago that love brings only pain. Feeling nothing at all is far better than being hurt again. She guards her wounded heart behind a hard exterior and carries within her a deep mistrust of men, who, in her experience, have only ever used and taken.

A man in need of help . . .

Then Gabriel Dalton walks into her life. Despite the terrible darkness of his past, there’s an undeniable goodness in him. And even though she knows the cost, Crystal finds herself drawn to Gabriel. His quiet strength is wearing down her defenses and his gentle patience is causing her to question everything she thought she knew.

Only love can mend a shattered heart . . .

Crystal and Gabriel never imagined that the world, which had stolen everything from them, would bring them a deep love like this. Except fate will only take them so far, and now the choice is theirs: Harden their hearts once again or find the courage to shed their painful pasts.

 

Add Most of All You to your shelf on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2uvpZY4

BUY THE BOOK HERE

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2uwTx3z

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2uN4spa

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2wOTzVb

iBooks: http://apple.co/2uMShIV

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2uNn5JB

Books-a-Million: http://bit.ly/2yJ7kps

IndieBound: http://bit.ly/2wAyXki

 

“Gabriel, a boy who hadn’t let himself forget what love felt like, and me, a girl who had made sure I did not remember.” 

Mia is known for her gut wrenching and beautiful stories that sink deep your into bones. This is the first book that I am able to experience this first hand. Yes, this is the first Mia Sheridan book I have read. Yes, I know who she is and all the excitement and rave reviews of her books, I have just never had the opportunity to read one. And damnit, I am so mad as myself that I waited til now to read her. So if you are an imbecile like me, I beg you to read this book (or any of her others) because yea, the reviews are dead-on perfect.

Ok – back to the book.

Most of All You is very intense and emotional story. It’s a tale of two broken people, broken in two different ways who need mending in ways then never thought.

Gabriel (Gabe) went through a horrific ordeal during his adolescent years that caused him to have issues with connecting to people. Through time, he was able to heal and move on and come to the point that he was ready for more than just communication to others, he wanted to be able to touch others without having a panic attack.

Eloise (Ellie/Crystal) has hardened and guarded her life from everyone since childhood. Her consistently abused by anyone around her and had an ugly idea of what love was. She had a very jaded look on life; she believe that her life was the way it was suppose to be.

I could see (yes, see) how tender, sweet and loving Gabe was from the very beginning. For someone who should have given up on love so long ago, he held on to what he knew and infused that into Ellie.

Ellie was a tough cookie to crack. She would slowly let Gabe in and then close right back up and shut down without any explanation. She had a hard time figuring out to move forward. And she knew she had to do it alone.

“You can’t fix me, you know.”

“No, I can only love you.”

Gabe and Ellie may have both had rough childhoods, but they couldn’t have been more different when it came to healing. One knew what true love was and the other believe she was never destined to have that kind of love – her love was always taken away.

I want to say so much more about this book, but feel that I have given too much away already and I have only given you snippets of their stories. This story is so unique and so beautifully written that it captivates you start to finish. While it was a bit slow in the beginning for me, after about the 35% mark, I was totally vested in this story and nothing was stopping me from reading it.

Please just go read this book. It’s a journey you won’t soon forget.

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Mia Sheridan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. Her passion is weaving true love stories about people destined to be together. Mia lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband. They have four children here on earth and one in heaven.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Website: www.miasheridan.com

Facebook: http://bit.ly/miasheridanFB

Twitter: @MSheridanAuthor

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/miasheridanGR

BookBub: http://bit.ly/2uMOiw2

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vpF3FQ

Giveaway

Widget to win 1 of 10 paperbacks.

 

Follow Forever Online

Website: http://bit.ly/1W6ZY8C

Facebook: http://bit.ly/1Zmyycz

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2aF6B0X

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#ReadForever

Touched by Mara White…Blog Tour & Review

 

 

 

 

AP new - synopsis.jpg
Does your sister let you touch her, Gemini?
-Barely, but, yes, more than anyone else. I remember even in preschool when the teacher would grab her hand, she’d stare at the spot where their skin connected as if it were an affront to her existence. Just stand there and glare like she wanted to hurt someone.
-Junipera suffers from a rare phobia.
-Please, what does June not suffer from?
-When did she start chasing storms?
-In third grade she started obsessing about the rain. Full blown? I’d say after hurricane Katrina she never looked back. And she didn’t just chase them, June became those wild storms.

Junipera and Gemini Jones, Irish twins born during the month of June, survive a childhood of neglect and poverty by looking out for one another. Destined for a group home, the girls are rescued by a rich aunt and uncle who move them from Northern Minnesota to Fairfield, Connecticut. One sister thrives while the other spins out of control. A violent assault leaves Gemini searching for clues, but what she finds might be questions that are better left unanswered.
Praise for Touched


“Fresh, raw, relevant. TOUCHED slips under your skin with lush prose, unforgettable characters, and a story like no other.”
        -Leylah Attar, New York Times best-selling author


“Hauntingly beautiful and downright emotional, White grabs you by the soul in her latest novel, Touched, and leaves an indelible mark.”
-K. Bromberg, New York Times best-selling author

“Mara White has crafted characters so real and complex, they live and bleed. Watching their story unfold was heartbreaking, beautiful, and riveting. Touched is stunning work.”
    -Nikki Sloane, Best-selling author of the Blindfold Club Series

“Touched is a truly beautiful book. It’s raw, real, and possessing of a quiet poetry.”
        -Emma Scott, Best-Selling author of the Full Tilt Duet

“I can confidently say, without a shred of doubt, that this story and these people will stay with me for the rest of my life. I bow down, Mara White. You wrote a category 5 masterpiece.”
-BB Easton, Bestselling Author

“A phenomenal, mesmerizing and unforgettable masterpiece!
This story blew me away! I cannot put into words how beautiful this story was! Absolutely astonishing! A must read!”
    -The Book Queen

“The writing is voracious and hungry and insatiable. Touched is a story that will devour you as you stuff your face with it. I’m not only touched, I’m digested. Just read it.”
    -Suanne Laqueur, Best-Selling author of the Fish Tales Series

Touched is a story that I will soon not forget. This is my first Mara White book and most definitely will not be my last. While I had some difficulty reading this book due to how it was written, I was still able to feel every bit of Mara’s writing.

This story is completely different from what I’ve read in the past. In all honesty, I think this may be my first women’s fiction book. I had no idea what to expected when I jumped into this book. The blurb doesn’t even come close to giving you the true depths of this book. It’s about so much more.

“God makes us each how we are, June. Unique, special, different from others. You touch people with your actions, with your heart. I can see that and I just met you.” 

Gemini and Juniper are Irish twins who grew up in poverty. But they made the most of what they had. Gem was the most resourceful of the two, making sure they both had what they needed to survive. June was the more free bird of two; nothing stopped her once she had heart and mind set on something. And these two were inseparable; they were dependent upon one another in order to survive. But Gem suffered from a phobia that caused her a lot of hindrances as they grew up – she didn’t like to be touched by anyone, aside from her sister. Until they met Alaric. These three formed a bond like no other – it was very unique bond too.

“The good Lord made us the way he intended us to be. There are no mistakes in His divine hands.”

There are so many important characters in this book, not just Gem, June and Alaric. Each characters plays significant role in their own way. But June really stood out to me. She was an enigma. How largely she lived without ever touching anyone but still touched them each in different ways, speaks volumes about her as a person.

“For a girl who didn’t touch people and refused all physical affection, June had discovered a beautiful strength hidden in her imperfections. If she wanted to let go, she simply had to grab hold as hard as she could.”

I know that my review may seem as vague as the blurb as to how truly deep this goes. It’s a book that you have to experience on your own. I will state that titles of each chapter will be a huge help in reading and understanding as you go along. Mara flips between past and present within the chapters and it sometimes got confusing, but you are able to figure out where she is going with her story. As I said, this is a book that I will not be soon forgetting.

 

 

Alaric

Alaric was used to being tossed off, so it didn’t surprise him or especially hurt his feelings when his grandfather passed him on to another group home. Three months had been enough for the old coot. Buyer’s remorse. Maybe driving him to school every day put him over the edge. He took the high road and took in the kid, but then soon realized it was a crazy idea. Too much of a responsibility. Besides, he hated people, let alone a grandson. Alaric was needy and Thorn didn’t do needy.
He did miss the room he’d quickly become attached to. He missed choices for breakfast and the hum of the loud refrigerator. He even kind of missed how his grandfather grunted instead of speaking full words, how he’d catch him studying his face like he was trying to decipher a code. Alaric knew he looked like his father, that the fact both pleased and aggravated his grandfather. A second chance the man didn’t ask for and obviously didn’t want.
Alaric realized he was slipping in his game. He shouldn’t have feelings for a bed or a ceiling after only a few weeks of staying in the same place. The trick was, he’d let himself think it was permanent and allowed himself to believe his home wasn’t going anywhere. Turned out he was half right—his home wasn’t going anywhere, but apparently, he was. Alaric reminded himself that nothing was permanent, change was the only guaranteed constant in life.
The other thing he missed were his nightly summer visits with Gem and June. Even though they pretended not to know each other at school, in the few months he’d been there, June and Gem had snuck over almost every night to watch the television in the garage. They shared snacks and laughs, secrets and intimate moments of fun. Although he’d never hung out with girls before, he’d imagined it would be boring, tedious and maybe even petty. How wrong he was, because Gem and June were electric, their curiosity was infectious, their fearlessness—almost troubling. He was, admittedly, a little bit scared of them. Especially June, whom he’d seen eat a bug, let a spider crawl down her turtleneck, poke a dead cat with a stick and turn it over so they could see the maggots, try a sip of beer from a can someone discarded on the curb, ride Freddy Bullet’s dirt bike down the dirt hill at full speed with her legs held out to the sides, hold her head under water in a bucket of freezing water, touch tongues with a teenager from the middle school who dared her to, drive her mother’s car to the other side of the street for alternate side parking. Phew! He would never challenge June to something he wasn’t readily willing to do. Because June would do it and leave him crying in the dust.
***
Junipera and Gemini turned ten and eleven in June. Alaric was ten in August. Midway through the year, Albert Thorn felt guilty about abandoning his grandson and came back to get him. Alaric was most excited about seeing his neighbors, Gem and June. He felt closer to them than he did his only living relative. Their reunion was spectacular. They smiled so hard their cheeks hurt, eyes dancing with the possibility of another summer spread out before them.
Life wasn’t easy, but they lived it fully and sometimes secretly. Fun was a reality they trusted much more than adults or rules or the surreal transformation that was growing up. If something appeared fun, it carried with it a truth that spoke directly to their hearts. A joke. A puddle to be splashed, a doorbell to be rung and ditched, sidewalk chalk to spell out pastel curse words, the pink heart dotting the I on the word shit, slides to slide upside down and two by two or three if they could fit, wrestling matches to reenact the ones they’d seen on TV—June could do full body slams until purple bruises appeared on her hip bones—they’d gossip and whisper stories from warm lips to ears, candy, costumes, screaming, running, laughing until tears or until June wet her pants. The magic of summer and having friends to share it with; they didn’t take it lightly and reveled in its bewitching yet innocent power.
Alaric would make videos that starred June and Gem. They didn’t reenact stories, he just documented their interactions, the two girls giggling and telling inside jokes, yelling at the television to egg on their favorite characters, fighting over seats or sticks or candy—Alaric found everything they did to be fascinating. He liked to zoom in close on both of their faces, record the flashes of expression and subtle eye movements that informed their unique communication. Once he filmed June outside dancing in the rain. He and Gem stayed in the shelter of the garage overhang while Junipera soaked her white nightgown all the way through. She threw her arms to the sides and spun in circles, tipped her head back and opened her mouth. Thunder crashed around them like the crack of a cosmic whip; purple lightning split through the dark sky making them both jump and cower. June was oblivious.
“Junipera, come back in. It’s dangerous and you’ll get sick,” Gem screamed at her sister.
Alaric panned to her face, which was twisted up in concern, then back out to June, who was laughing openly at the sky in some kind of trance-like rapture. Her feet were covered in mud up to her ankles, her nightgown soaked transparent and advertising her blue underwear. Gem could even see her navel. Greenish lightning zapped through the rapacious clouds and moments later, another clash of thunder shattered their ears. Gem and Alaric bumped shoulders as fear moved them involuntarily. The lightning lit her up in intervals like the glitz of a macabre disco. The vibration of the storm rumbled low in their bellies and when the thunder struck it shook the earth beneath them.
“June, I’m serious. Get back in here!” Gem screamed. Alaric filmed her face, concentrating on her brown eyes filled with panic. “What if she gets hit?” Gem asked him, her palms turned upward in defeat.
“Well, then she’d stop dancing for sure and you and I could go save her.”

 

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Mara White is a contemporary romance and erotica writer who laces forbidden love stories with hard issues, such as race, gender and inequality. She holds an Ivy League degree but has also worked in more strip clubs than even she can remember. She is not a former Mexican telenovela star contrary to what the tabloids might say, but she is a former ballerina and will always remain one in her heart. She lives in NYC with her husband and two children and yes, when she’s not writing you can find her on the playground.

 

Author Links

 

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The Lavender House by Hilary Boyd….ARC Review

The Lavender House is out TODAY!

 

Synopsis:

Nancy de Freitas is the glue that holds her family together. Caught between her ageing, ailing mother Frances, and her struggling daughter Louise, frequent user of Nancy’s babysitting services, it seems Nancy’s fate is to quietly go on shouldering the burden of responsibility for all four generations. Her divorce four years ago put paid to any thoughts of a partner to share her later years with. Now it looks like her family is all she has.

Then she meets Jim. Smoker, drinker, unsuccessful country singer and wearer of cowboy boots, he should be completely unsuited to the very together Nancy. And yet, there is a real spark.
But Nancy’s family don’t trust Jim one bit. They’re convinced he’ll break her heart, maybe run off with her money – he certainly distracts her from her family responsibilities.

Can she be brave enough to follow her heart? Or will she remain glued to her family’s side and walk away from one last chance for love?

 

My Review:

The Lavender House is the newest work fro author Hilary Boyd and admittedly the first of her works that I’ve read.  I have to say, I was happy to have found this author and this read was a change of pace for me that I enjoyed.

The story starts out with quite a bang…Nancy’s husband of 34 years drops the bombshell that he’s leaving her.  Talk about a beginning!  What follows is a year in Nancy’s journey after that moment.  Her journey to find love again with a man her family doesn’t really approve of, dealing with numerous family issues including an aging mother, a daughter with her own family and restaurant they run, and truly finding herself again.  I enjoyed seeing the evolution of Nancy from the wife and woman she had been for over 30 years and the road it took to get her there.  There are many ups and downs I felt as I read, especially when Nancy was interacting with her family.  I will admit that there were times I struggled a bit while I was reading as it was at times hard to relate to a woman who is quite a bit older than myself but overall, the situations were things that members of my own family have gone through and looking at it through that perspective made things a bit more relatable.

Overall I’m happy I had the chance to read this book and enjoyed it!

Three-and-a-Half Loves

 

Book Links:

Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

 

“Boyd hits the bullseye with this story that will resonate with all women”―For The Love of Books

“Warm-hearted and with a beady eye, Boyd gets under the skin of her characters to show that falling in love isn’t limited to the young”―Sunday Express

“A warm-hearted story of families, trust and second-chance love”―Sunday Mirror

“Hilary Boyd in her inimitable fashion has told the story yet again of mature love which, like an excellent vintage wine, is just waiting to burst out of its barrels”―My Weekly

Boyd is as canny as Joanna Trollope at observing family life – and better than Trollope at jokesDaily Mail

“Thoroughly enjoyable read . . . a real page turner”Good Housekeeping

“This story is engrossing . . . one of my favourite books of the year so far”―Mature Times

About the author:

Boyd was born and spent the first six months of her life in Prestatyn, North Wales, where her father, an army major, was stationed after the war. She was later educated in London, then at the boarding school Roedean. She trained as a nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, and subsequently as a marriage guidance counsellor with Relate before reading English Literature at London University in her late 30s.

After college, Boyd became a health journalist, writing about depression, step-parenting and pregnancy. She began writing fiction as a hobby whilst raising three children and working at various day jobs including running a cancer charity, Survive Cancer, working for an engineering company, and an online vitamin site.

The Restaurant Critic’s Wife by Elizabeth LaBan….Blog Tour Stop & Review

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Synopsis:

What could be better than being married to a restaurant critic? All those amazing meals at the best restaurants…pure nirvana, right? Well, Lila Soto, the heroine of Elizabeth LaBan’s charming new novel, The Restaurant Critic’s Wife (Lake Union Publishing; January 5, 2016), might tell you otherwise. Sure the food is heavenly, but the downsides are considerable—especially being married to a man who is obsessed with his job and paranoid to the point of absurdity about being “outed” from his anonymity. Add to the scenario the fact that Lila has given up her own career to follow her husband’s job to a new, unfamiliar city, and that she is now a fulltime stay-at-home mom—a gig she never aspired to, despite loving her kids—and you begin to see why Lila is doubting every life decision she’s ever made.

Though it is not an autobiography by any means, it can’t be overlooked that Elizabeth LaBan is herself married to Philadelphia restaurant critic Craig LaBan. “This book wouldn’t exist without my husband,” she says, “who brings excitement, adventure, love, and great food into our lives every day, and has always been open to my writing a novel about a woman who is married to a wacky restaurant critic. For the record, Craig is not obsessive or controlling like Sam—and Craig did not tell me to say that.” But, even if her main characters are fictitious, there is no denying that Elizabeth draws on aspects of her own life to lend a delicious verisimilitude to the novel.

The Restaurant Critic’s Wife is a charming portrait of the complexities of life that many women face when dealing with their marriages, their children, their friendships, and their careers. All the talk about exquisite food is merely the icing on a one-of-a-kind cake. 

“A tender, charming, and deliciously diverting story about love, marriage, and how your restaurant-review sausage gets made. The Restaurant Critic’s Wife is compulsively readable and richly detailed, a guilt-free treat that will have you devouring every word.” —Jennifer Weiner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good In BedBest Friends Forever, and Who Do You Love

 

My Review:

The Restaurant Critic’s Wife is the first work from author Elizabeth LaBan that I’ve read. I will admit that immediately the cover caught my attention and after reading the synopsis I was really excited to start reading this book.  Overall it was a mix of hits and misses for me.

Being a resident of the Philadelphia burbs, I really enjoyed the setting of the story. It was really great to read about the places that are only a short drive away for me.  Primarily where the book fell a little flat for me was the overall plot. This book is basically a look into the daily life of a stay at home mom with a work obsessed husband and her back and forth internal debate about going back to work. That’s a debate I can totally relate to and I felt for Lila and her struggle. It’s hard when you start to lose yourself with motherhood, especially if you had been a career woman previously.  It also doesn’t help that her husband almost forbids her to go back to work.  Her husband, Sam, is a restaurant critic held in very high regard…he’s also managed to keep his identity a secret and is now borderline obsessed in keeping it that way.  He sort of drove me crazy.  But on the flip side, I could understand his stress in that kind of charade so I couldn’t completely hate him. I especially couldn’t hate him for it because I know how Philly people can be and goodness knows if he wrote up a bad review for a beloved Philadelphia restaurant, he’d be heckled everywhere he went!  We don’t take kindly to people speaking badly of things we love.

So overall, while the story fell a bit flat for me at times, it was well-written and I enjoyed that aspect of things.

 

3LovesRLB

Three Loves

 

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Book Links:

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

 

 

 

Elizabeth LaBan_(c) Andrea Cipriani Mecchi_300dpiAbout Elizabeth LaBan

Elizabeth LaBan lives in Philadelphia with her restaurant critic husband and two children. She is also the author of The Tragedy Paper, which has been translated into eleven languages, and The Grandparents Handbook, which has been translated into seven languages.

Connect with Elizabeth

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Elizabeth LaBan’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, January 4th: A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall
Tuesday, January 5th: Why Girls are Weird
Wednesday, January 6th: All Roads Lead to the Kitchen
Thursday, January 7th: Bibliotica
Monday, January 11th: Kahakai Kitchen
Tuesday, January 12th: Chick Lit Central – author guest post
Wednesday, January 13th: Thoughts on This ‘n That
Thursday, January 14th: A Chick Who Reads
Friday, January 15th: Kritter’s Ramblings
Monday, January 18th: Books a la Mode – author guest post
Tuesday, January 19th: Bookchickdi
Wednesday, January 20th: I’m Shelf-ish
Thursday, January 21st: Patricia’s Wisdom
Friday, January 22nd: From the TBR Pile
Monday, January 25th: Read. Write. Repeat.
Tuesday, January 26thRead Love Blog
Wednesday, January 27thMom in Love with Fiction
Thursday, January 28thView from the Birdhouse
Monday, February 1stJust Commonly
Wednesday, February 3rdThoughts from an Evil Overlord

Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers…Blog Tour Stop & Review

Accidents of Marriage PBAbout Accidents of Marriage

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press; Reprint edition (June 9, 2015)

For Madeline Illica, the love of her husband Ben was her greatest blessing and biggest curse. Brilliant and charming, Ben could turn into a raging bull when crossedóand despite her training as a social worker Maddy never knew what would cross him. When Ben was in a conciliatory mood, they worked on techniques for communication and anger management, but on the day of the accident, nothing seemed to help.

Accidents of Marriage holds readers from the first page to the last.

“This novel’s unsparing look at emotional abuse and its devastating consequences gives it gravity and bite, while a glimpse into a physically damaged mind both surprises and fascinates.”—People Magazine

“A complex, captivating tale.”—Boston Globe

“A deft exploration of the borders of abuse and the aftermath of tragedy, the triumphs and disappointments of recovery, and the possibilities of faith and forgiveness.”—Star Tribune

“Unputdownable and unforgettable. I just loved it—and I’ll now read everything Randy Susan Meyers writes.”—Liane Moriarty, NYT bestselling author of The Husband’s Secret

 

 

My review:

Accidents of Marriage is the newest work from author Randy Susan Meyers and the first of her work that I’ve read. What I will say right off the bat is if you’re looking for a feel good, happy ending read, this is not that book for you. That being said, I really loved this book regardless and I have a feeling this story and these characters will stay with me for quite some time.

Maddy and Ben are a married couple with three children. Both career people, they have to balance a lot on a daily basis. One of those things is Ben’s temper that regularly rises beyond a reasonable level. All of the daily things that seem so annoying or frustrating like laundry and school lunches seem unimportant after a terrible car accident leaves Maddy in a coma and eventually navigation a long and frustrating recovery. It’s that terrible accident that gives Ben some much needed perspective. Unfortunately it comes a tad bit too late.

My heart broke for this family. It broke for their broken marriage and the children left in the wake. It broke for Maddy and her injuries. It broke for Ben who I am still really pulling for and have hopes that one day we will get an update that he and Maddy were able to work things out. Even though this was a sad story, it was also relatable in some ways. Life is hard. Marriage is hard. Parenthood is hard. We all let these things get to us and lead us to be upset at times. Saying things we don’t mean in the heat of anger or frustration. But the thing this book remind me was that no matter what, love and life are precious and should be treated as such. It reminded me that it can all change in the blink of an eye and that we should be grateful for the things we have and let the trivial things go. Take time to appreciate our loved ones because you never know what tomorrow may hold…for that I am beyond grateful that I read this book.

So again I say, if you’re looking for a happily ever ever this is not a book for you. But if you’re looking for an emotional and poignant read with a message that shouldn’t be ignored, pick this story up. I know many of you will enjoy this book as much as I did. Thank you, Ms. Meyers, for a moving tale.

4andahalfloves

Four-and-a-Half Loves

 

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Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Randy Susan MeyersAbout Randy Susan Meyers

The drama of Randy Susan Meyersí novels is informed by her work with families impacted by emotional and family violence.

Her newest novel,†Accidents of Marriage, examines the slippery definitions of†emotional abuse and explores tragic circumstances forcing a family to challenge the dynamics that have long-defined them.

Randy is a founding member of Beyond The Margins, a site dedicated to the craft of writing and the business of publishing, and coauthored the guide,†What To Do Before Your Book Launch, with writer M.J. Rose.††She lives in Boston with her husband, where she teaches at Grub Street Writerís Center.

Find out more about Randy at her website, and connect with her on Facebook,†Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sisters Club by Lauren Baratz-Logsted…Blog Tour Stop & Review

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Synopsis:

Four women have little in common other than where they live and the joyous complications of having sisters. Cindy waits for her own life to begin as she sees her sister going in and out of hospitals. Lise has made the boldest move of her life, even as her sister spends every day putting herself at risk to improve the lives of others. Diana is an ocean apart from her sister, but worries that her marriage is the relationship separated by the most distance. Sylvia has lost her twin sister to breast cancer, a disease that runs in the family, and fears that she will die without having ever really lived.

When Diana places an ad in the local newsletter, Cindy, Lise, and Sylvia show up thinking they are joining a book club, but what they discover is something far deeper and more profound than any of them ever imagined.

With wit, charm, and pathos, this mesmerizing tale of sisters, both born and built, enthralls on every page.

 

My Review:

The Sister’s Club is the newest work from author Lauren Baratz-Logsted and I absolutely loved it.

It’s a story about four very different women in need of a connection and friendship who all come together and form that bond with each other.  It’s a story about love and loss.  A story about overcoming obstacles and continuing to have hope.  These four woman are all going through their own struggles and in these unconventional friendships they find the strength they need to overcome them.  Body image issues, an abusive relationship, going after a dream, and wanting to find love are all things these women go through and it was so touching to read.  I enjoyed every page and was pulling for these woman from the very beginning to realize their dreams and goals and find their happy places.

Ms.Baratz-Logsted gave me a wonderful escape for a day and in the end, even I felt I was a part of The Sisters Club.  Thank you, Ms.Baratz-Logsted, for writing these women’s stories…I truly enjoyed it!

4andahalfloves

Four-and-a-Half Loves

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Buy Links:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-sisters-club/id992260995?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D6

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-sisters-club-1?utm_source=linkshare_us&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=linkshare_us&siteID=7W0jeRqnKFU-B8uK.av_BlfSq4S9QZ4qxg

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sisters-club-lauren-baratz-logsted/1121400006?ean=2940151446143&itm=1&usri=the%20sisters%20club&cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-7W0jeRqnKFU-_-10:1

http://www.diversionbooks.com/ebooks/sisters-club

Lauren Baratz-Logsted Bio:

Author PhotoLauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of over 25 books for adults, teens (including The Twin’s Daughter and Little Women and Me0, and children (The Sisters 8, a nine-book series she created with her husband and daughter). Before becoming an author, Lauren was an independent bookseller, freelance editor, Publishers Weekly reviewer, sort-of librarian and window washer. She lives with her family in Danbury, CT. Visit her at www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com or follow her @LaurenBaratzL on Twitter.

Links:

www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com

twitter.com/LaurenBaratzL

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/27212.Lauren_Baratz_Logsted

https://www.facebook.com/lauren.baratzlogsted