#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in September 25

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About     This was a tough week…it was hard getting in my 10k steps, but luckily my dogs help with that. They need their walks and so by default, I do, too! I didn’t make it to the gym this week, but did try to get up at least once an hour to move around for…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: The Secret Chord     Author: Geraldine Brooks        Published: October 2015, Viking   Format: Hardcover, 320 pages     A rich and utterly absorbing novel about the life of King David, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of People of the Book and March. With more than two million copies of her novels sold, New York Times bestselling author Geraldine Brooks has achieved both popular and critical acclaim. Now,…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Laguna Nights by Kaira Rouda (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: Laguna Nights    Author: Kaira Rouda     Series: Laguna Beach, #1      Published: July 2015, Real You Publishing Group    Format: Paperback, 250 pages   Madison Alcott left her Laguna Beach childhood in the past as soon as she could, never imagining she’d be forced to return. Caring for her ill mother and holding down a high-pressure position at the best resort in town, Madison’s life is…

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Review: Everything I Never You by Celeste Ng

Title: Everything I Never Told You     Author: Celeste Ng           Published: May 2015, Penguin Books   Format: Paperback, 292 pages    Source: Publisher   Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins this debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is the favorite child…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: After You by Jojo Moyes (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: After You    Author: Jojo Moyes      Series: Me Before You, #2      Published: September 2015, Pamela Dorman Books Format: Hardcover, 368 pages     How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living? Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is…

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The Sunday Post #85 (9.20.15)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.          Wow, did this past week fly by!…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in September 18

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   It ended up being a crazier week than I anticipated due to work, which I have the feeling is going to be the case for a while now. Being involved in those FitBit weekly challenges does help motivate me to get my steps in which is a good thing, especially when I’m stuck on the…

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Short & Sweet Review: Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title: Devil Bones    Author: Kathy Reichs     Series: Temperance Brennan, #11       Narrator: Linda Emond Published: August 2008, Simon & Schuster Audio   Length: 10 hours   Source: Library     Following her most successful book to date, Kathy Reichs — international number one bestselling author, forensic anthropologist, and producer of the Fox television hit Bones — returns to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Temperance Brennan encounters a deadly…

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Review & Giveaway: The Middle of Somewhere by Sonja Yoerg (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: The Middle of Somewhere    Author: Sonja Yoerg           Published: September 2015, NAL   Format: ARC Paperback, 336 pages    Source: Publisher    A troubled, young widow hikes from Yosemite Valley deep into the wilderness on the John Muir Trail to elude her shameful past in this emotionally gripping story from the author of House Broken. With her thirtieth birthday looming, Liz Kroft is heading for…

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Review: The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams

Title: The Secret Life of Violet Grant    Author: Beatriz Williams        Published: May 2014, G.P Putnam’s Sons  Format: Hardcover, 448 pages     Source: Personal copy   Passion, redemption, and a battered suitcase full of secrets: the New York Times-bestselling author of A Hundred Summers returns with another engrossing tale. Manhattan, 1964. Vivian Schuyler, newly graduated from Bryn Mawr College, has recently defied the privilege of her storied old…

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Cover Reveal: Lies and Other Acts of Love by Kristy Woodson Harvey (with a Giveaway!!!)

I am so excited to be part of the big cover reveal today of Kristy Woodsen Harvey’s second book, Lies and Other Acts of Love, due out April 4, 2016. I absolutely loved her debut novel, Dear Carolina, and am looking forward to reading this new book. Here’s what’s already being said about this book: “We loved everything about LIES AND OTHER ACTS OF LOVE. From the strong plot about…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Dark Waters by Chris Goff (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: Dark Waters    Author: Chris Goff     Series: Raisa Jordan Thriller, #1      Published: September 2015, Crooked Lane Books   Format: Hardcover, 352 pages      Raisa “Rae” Jordan, an agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, isn’t in Israel for more than a day before her predecessor is gunned down in a Tel Aviv square by a sniper. Assigned to investigate the assassination of one of her…

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Review: The Paris Key by Juliet Blackwell

Title: The Paris Key    Author: Juliet Blackwell        Published: September 2015, NAL   Format: ARC E-copy, 384 pages    Source: Netgalley via Publicist   An American in Paris navigates her family’s secret past and unlocks her own future, in this emotionally evocative novel by New York Times bestselling author Juliet Blackwell. As a girl, Genevieve Martin spent the happiest summer of her life in Paris, learning the delicate…

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The Sunday Post #84 (9.13.15)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.            It was a busy week, but…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in September 11

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   This week, I set a goal for myself to get at least 12k steps Monday thru Friday and I was successful. I like setting little goals like that – it really motivates me to keep moving. I think I am going to do the same thing for this week coming up. Work is starting to…

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#30 Authors Day 11: Mary Kubica recommends Come Away With Me by Karma Brown

I’m so excited to be participating in this year’s #30Authors event. I have the lovely Mary Kubica here to discuss Karma Brown’s debut novel, Come Away With Me. I actually just read this book myself and loved it. I’m so glad Mary is reviewing this book here today!  And don’t forget to check out the amazing giveaway below as well. But first, here’s a little bit about the #30Authors event…

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Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: Come Away With Me by Karma Brown (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Come Away With Me     Author: Karma Brown        Published: August 2015, MIRA   Format: ARC Paperback, 368 pages     Source: Publisher   One minute, Tegan Lawson has everything she could hope for: an adoring husband, Gabe, and a baby on the way. The next, a patch of black ice causes a devastating accident that will change her life in ways she never could have imagined. Tegan…

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Review: Love and Miss Communication by Elyssa Friedland

Title: Love and Miss Communication    Author: Elyssa Friedland          Published: May 2015, William Morrow Paperbacks    Format: Paperback, 400 pages     Source: Publicist   This unforgettable debut novel asks us to look up from our screens and out at the world . . . and to imagine what life would be like with no searches, no status updates, no texts, no Tweets, no pins, and no posts…

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Book Spotlights: The She Reads’ Books of Fall Selections

Last week, the gals at She Reads announced the four ‘Books of Fall’ selections. I’ll be reading/listening to some of these, so be sure to keep an eye out here for my reviews. So without further ado…here are the Books of Fall:   Title: The Admissions    Author: Meg Mitchell Moore          Published: August 2015, Doubleday       The Admissions brilliantly captures the frazzled pressure cooker of modern…

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The Sunday Post #83 (9.6.15)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.            It was a quiet week, for…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in September 4

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   I am back home and no have no more traveling planned for a while! I didn’t do anything the week I was at my mom’s and I was ok with that and this past week I decided I would just aim for getting in my 10k steps each day (M-F), which I did. It was…

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Review: If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins

Title: If You Only Knew    Author: Kristan Higgins         Published: August 2015, HQN Books   Format: ARC Paperback, 416 pages    Source: Publisher   Sisterhood in all its drama, hilarity and tears is at the heart of New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins’s thoroughly captivating new novel, featuring the wit and romance that readers have come to expect from the much-loved creator of the Blue Heron…

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Review: Wildest Dreams by Robyn Carr

Title: Wildest Dreams    Author: Robyn Carr     Series: Thunder Point, #9       Published: August 2015, MIRA   Format: ARC E-copy, 384 pages    Source: Netgalley via Publicist   Blake Smiley searched the country for just the right place to call home. The professional triathlete has traveled the world, but Thunder Point has what he needs to put down the roots he’s never had. In the quiet coastal…

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Review & Giveaway: The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young (Giveaway Closed)

Title: The Gates of Evangeline   Author: Hester Young     Series: Charlie Cates Trilogy, #1       Published: September 2015, G.P. Putnam’s Sons   Format: ARC Paperback, 416 pages     Source: Publisher   From a unique new talent comes a fast-paced debut, introducing a heroine whose dark visions bring to light secrets that will heal or destroy those around her . . . When New York journalist and recently…

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Review: The Sparrow Sisters by Ellen Herrick

Title: The Sparrow Sisters     Author: Ellen Herrick      Published: September 2015, William Morrow Paperbacks   Format: ARC Paperback, 384 pages    Source: Publisher   With echoes of the alchemy of Practical Magic, the lushness of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, and the darkly joyful wickedness of the Witches of East End, Ellen Herrick’s debut novel spins an enchanting love story about a place where magic whispers just beneath the…

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Month in Review: August 2015

Here are my reading stats for August!  Books read:  14  Books I read: Alert — James Patterson Speaking in Bones — Kathy Reichs (audio book) In a Dark, Dark Wood — Ruth Ware Everything I Never Told You — Celeste Ng The Sparrow Sisters — Ellen Herrick The Girl Who Played With Fire — Stieg Larsson (audio book) The Gates of Evangeline — Hester Young A New Hope — Robyn…

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Discussion/Mini Reviews: The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

When I heard that there was going to be another “Girl” book, I was ecstatic!!! I loved Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy and was so bummed when he died before being able to write more. I had read that he planned to write 10 books in the series so I just knew we hadn’t seen enough of Lizbeth Salander. I wanted more of her!!! So now this other book is coming…

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The Sunday Post #82 (8.30.15)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.          What a whirlwind this month turned out…

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Short & Sweet Review: The Reckoning by Jane Casey (audio)

Title: The Reckoning    Author: Jane Casey      Series: Maeve Kerrigan, #2      Narrator: Sarah Coomes   Published: May 2012, Brilliance Audio   Length: 15 hours 56 minutes    Source: Personal copy via Audible    To the public, he’s a hero: a brutal killer who targets sex offenders. To most of London’s police force, he’s the suspect in a gruesome, time-consuming case to be avoided. But to Detective…

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Review: Dancing Through Life by Candace Cameron Bure

Title: Dancing Through Life     Author: Candace Cameron Bure           Published: August 2015, B&H Books   Format: ARC Paperback, 208 pages    Source: Publisher   Candace Cameron Bure has grown up before our eyes and we’ve watched as she’s balanced life in Hollywood with her faith for many years. But that all reached new heights when she was given the opportunity to join the cast of Dancing…

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Review: In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Title: In a Dark, Dark Wood    Author: Ruth Ware          Published: August 2015, Scout Press   Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages     Source: Publisher    Someone’s getting married. Someone’s getting murdered. In a dark, dark wood Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back. There was a dark, dark house Until, out of the blue,…

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Short & Sweet Review: Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title: Bones to Ashes    Author: Kathy Reichs     Series: Temperance Brennan, #10      Narrator: Linda Emond   Published: August 2007, Recorded Books   Length: 10 hours 30 minutes   Source: Library    Temperance Brennan, like her creator Kathy Reichs, is a brilliant, sexy forensic anthropologist called on to solve the toughest cases. But for Tempe, the discovery of a young girl’s skeleton in Acadia, Canada, is more…

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Review: Those Girls by Chevy Stevens (audio)

Title: Those Girls     Author: Chevy Stevens       Narrator: Jorjeana Marie, Emily Woo Zeller, Nicol Zanzarella Published: July 2015, Blackstone Audio   Length: 11 hours 29 minutes    Source: Personal copy via Audible  Chevy Stevens is back with her most powerful, emotional thriller yet— a story of survival…and revenge. Life has never been easy for the three Campbell sisters. Jess, Courtney, and Dani live on a remote ranch…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in August 21

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   It’s been a while since I last checked in – I was sick and then I was on vacation for two weeks, one week of which we spent at the beach!!! I haven’t really been working out regularly because I was sick and not eating properly, so I felt that my body didn’t have…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: No Virgin Island by C. Michele Dorsey (Giveaway Closed)

Title: No Virgin Island    Author: C. Michele Dorsey     Series: A Sabrina Salter Mystery, #1      Published: August 2015, Crooked Lane Books   Format: Hardcover, 272 pages      Sabrina Salter traded a high-pressure job as a Boston meteorologist for life as an innkeeper on sun-soaked St. John. But storm clouds roll in when Sabrina finds Carter Johnson, her most attractive guest, tucked up in a hammock way…

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Review: A New Hope by Robyn Carr

Title: A New Hope    Author: Robyn Carr     Series: Thunder Point, #8      Published: June 2015, MIRA   Format: ARC E-copy, 336 pages    Source: Netgalley    Starting over is never easy, but in Thunder Point, where newcomers are welcome and friends become family, it’s possible to find yourself again. In this brand-new story, #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr takes us on a moving…

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Short & Sweet Review: Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title: Break No Bones     Author: Kathy Reichs     Series: Temperance Brennan, #9      Narrator: Barbara Rosenblatt   Published: July 2006, Recorded Books   Length: 10 hours 30 minutes   Source: Library   Following the tremendous success of “Cross Bones, “Kathy Reichs explores another high-profile topic in Break No Bones — a case that lands forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan in the middle of a gruesome international scheme.…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Red Line by Brian Thiem (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Red Line    Author: Brian Thiem      Series: A Matt Sinclair Mystery, #1       Published: August 2015, Crooked Lane Books   Format: Hardcover, 368 pages    When a teenager from a wealthy suburb outside of Oakland, CA is dumped at an inner city bus stop, homicide detective Matt Sinclair catches the case. It’s his first since being bumped to desk duty for a bust that went south…fast.…

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Review: Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner (audio)

Title: Crash & Burn   Author: Lisa Gardner    Series: Tessa Leoni, #3    Narrator: Christina Traister, Mikael Naramore    Published: February 2015, Brilliance Audio    Length: 13 hours 27 minutes   Source: Personal copy via Audible  The #1 New York Times bestselling author’s latest stand-alone thriller, with a cameo by her fan-favorite character, Boston Detective D.D. Warren My name is Nicky Frank. Except, most likely, it isn’t. Nicole Frank…

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Short & Sweet Review: Bones on Ice by Kathy Reichs

Title: Bones on Ice Author: Kathy Reichs Series: Temperance Brennan, #17.5    Published: June 2015, Bantam   Format: E-book, 104 pages    Source: Personal copy    Featuring a preview of the highly anticipated new thriller Speaking in Bones, this eBook original novella showcases #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs at the peak of her powers. In Bones on Ice, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan gets wrapped up in the…

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Blog Tour & Review: Thrill Me by Susan Mallery (audio)

Title: Thrill Me    Author: Susan Mallery    Series: Fool’s Gold, #18    Narrator: Tanya Eby    Published: July 2015, Brilliance Audio / HQN Books  Length: 8 hours, 32 minutes / 368 pages  Source: Personal copy via Audible / Netgalley via publisher  Meet the Mitchell brothers of Fool’s Gold, California—five gorgeous men who’ve left a trail of broken hearts in their wake… Maya Farlow learned the hard way to depend…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Plantation Shudders by Ellen Byron (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Plantation Shudders    Author: Ellen Byron      Series: A Cajun Country Mystery, #1      Published: August 2015, Crooked Lane Books     Format: Hardcover, 288 pages   Check in for some Southern hospitality in Plantation Shudders, the Cajun Country series debut from Ellen Byron. It’s the end of the summer and Prodigal Daughter Maggie Crozat has returned home to her family’s plantation-turned-bed-and-breakfast in Louisiana. The Crozats have an…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Twenty-Eight & a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Twenty-Eight & a Half Wishes     Author: Denise Grover Swank     Series: Rose Gardner Mysteries, #1       Published: August 2015, Crooked Lane Books    Format: Hardcover, 288 pages   The first in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling series. For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV is bad even before she has a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, but this one…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Rainy Day Sisters    Author: Kate Hewitt  Series: The Hartley-by-the-Sea, #1   Published: August 2015, NAL    Format: Paperback, 368 pages    The USA Today bestselling author presents a heartfelt novel about two sisters struggling toward new lives and loves. Welcome to Hartley-by-the-Sea in England’s beautiful Lake District, where two sisters who meet as strangers find small miracles tucked into the corners of every day…. When Lucy Bagshaw’s life in Boston…

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Review: Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title: Speaking in Bones     Author: Kathy Reichs      Series: Temperance Brennan, #18      Narrator: Katherine Borowitz Published: July 2015, Random House Audio    Length: 10 hours Source: Library The latest blockbuster suspense novel in the pulse-pounding Temperance Brennan series, from #1 New York Times bestselling author and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs. For every case Temperence Brennance has solved, there remain innumerable unidentified bodies in her lab.…

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Review: Alert by James Patterson

Title: Alert     Author: James Patterson     Series: Michael Bennett, #8       Published: August 2015, Little, Brown & Company    Format: ARC Paperback, 400 pages     Source: Publisher   “This is not a test”—every New Yorker’s worst nightmare is about to become a reality. New Yorkers aren’t easily intimidated, but someone is doing their best to scare them, badly: why? After two inexplicable high-tech attacks, the city…

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The Sunday Post #81 (8.2.15) – A Day Late

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.          Why is the week before vacation so…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in July 31

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   So, this week got off to a great start with 2 good training walks, but then between the heat and a crazy work schedule it all came apart. Work has been incredibly busy and with me going on vacation next week I feel more under the gun to get a lot done before I…

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Month in Review: July 2015

Here are my reading stats for July!  Books read:  15  Books I read:  The Liar — Nora Roberts (audio book) Hold Me — Susan Mallery (e-book) Summer Secrets — Jane Green Beautiful Ruins — Jess Walter (audio book) Those Girls — Chevy Stevens (audio book) The Far End of Happy — Kathryn Craft Kiss Me — Susan Mallery (audio book) Devil Bones — Kathy Reichs (audio book) Name of the…

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Review: The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff

Title: The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach    Author: Pam Jenoff      Published: July 2015, MIRA   Format: ARC Paperback, 384 pages     Source: Publisher   Summer 1941   Young Adelia Monteforte flees fascist Italy for America, where she is whisked away to the shore by her well-meaning aunt and uncle. Here, she meets and falls for Charlie Connally, the eldest of the four Irish-Catholic boys next door. But…

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