Always With a Book

First line: The guilt was like a clump of tar in her hair, warm and sticky, impossible to remove. Why I read this: I love Elin Hilderbrand’s books and have had this one sitting on my shelf for a while – now that it’s summer, it was the perfect read! I also read this for the Reading From My Shelves Project. From the inside cover: Claire Danner Crispin has a…

First line: I was in the fifth grade the first time I thought about thirty. Why I read this: I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while and now that the movie is out, I needed to read it first before heading to the theater. From the back cover: Meet Rachel White, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl…

First line: He’d put in a fifteen-hour shift the night the call came in. Why I read this: I had read the last two in the DD Warren series and wanted to go back and read the rest of the series. Synopsis: Alone . . . Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy…

First line: Sam was hungry for pound cake. Why I read this: I was sent a request to read and review this book. From the back cover: When a box of Iris’s belongings arrives on Sam’s doorstep, she discovers things about her mother she never knew – or could even guess. But she is puzzled by much of what she finds. She learns that Violet, the woman she knows as…

First line: Men were the bane of Susie O’Brien’s life. Why I read this: I reserved this from the library and because it’s new, I only have it for a week, so I had to read right away! From the back cover: In the close-knit community of Chesapeake Shores, Maryland, Susie O’Brien and Mack Franklin’s “not-dating” claim befuddles everyone, especially since the two spend every spare minute together. Susie’s thrilled…

First line: I am a star. Why I read this: I was asked by the author to read this book. Synopsis:Hollywood casting director Vivien Slate thought she had it all, until coming home one day to find her husband cheating on her with a younger woman. With her marriage on the rocks, she decides it’s the perfect time to recapture her sexual identity… by finding a younger man of her…

First line: My sister Kwan believes she has yin eyes. Why I read this: The publicist promoting the re-release of this book asked if I would be willing to read it. From the back of the book: Set in San Francisco and in a remote village of Southwestern China, Amy Tan’s The Hundred Secret Senses is a tale of American assumptions shaken by Chinese ghosts and broadened with hope.in 1962,…

First line: I’m shaking as I leave him, still in shock over what just happened. Why I read this: I got a request from a publicist wanting to know if I would be interested in participating in the authors blog tour. Synopsis: What happens when a man comes between one desperately single and one very married sister? Kate’s been depressed ever since yet another long-term boyfriend unceremoniously dumped her. When…

First line: It has been exactly 350 days since I decided I’d be better off without him. Why I read this: I got a request from a publicist wanting to know if I would be interested in participating in the authors blog tour. Synopsis: Jordan Daniels and Elle Ryan thought their lives would become less complicated when they walked away from their respective relationships one year ago. But instead, they…

First line: The moon drew a rippling arrow across the surface of the lake, exposing Edward and Sam making love on the dock. Why I read it: The author contacted me to read and review the book – it is her debut novel. From the back cover: The wife of an adulterous politician must choose between the safety of denial and a new life in the light. Thirty years ago,…

First line: Some instinct – or maybe just a stir of a breeze – awakened Steven Creed; he sat up in bed, took a fraction of a moment to orient himself to unfamiliar surroundings. Why I read it: I was asked to review Creed’s Honor, which is the second in Linda Lael Miller’s Creed Cowboy’s trilogy. As you might know, I don’t like picking up a book that’s in the…

First line: A fierce and unseasonably cold September wind blew chilly rain against the windows. Why I read this: I came across Robyn Carr’s Virgin River series earlier this year and I am slowly trying to read them all – this is book 2 and there are 15 in the series as of now…I really need to catch up! Synopsis from Barnes and Noble: John “Preacher” Middleton is about to…

First line: This was the day I was getting married. From the inside cover: Detective Lindsay Boxer finally gets married, but a missing newborn and a series of violent attacks push the Women’s Murder Club back to full throttle before the wedding gifts are even unwrapped. FOR EVERY SECRET Detective Lindsay Boxer’s long-awaited wedding celebration becomes a distant memory when she is called to investigate a horrendous crime: a teenage…

First line: Birth and death are the two occurrences in a person’s life that seem to say one thing: we are not the ones calling the shots. From the back cover: Every summer, Samantha Wheland joins her childhood friends – Isabel, Kendra, and Mina – on a vacation somewhere exotic and fabulous. Together with their mixed bag of parents, they’ve created a lifetime of memories. This year it’s a beach…

First line: “We have an idea,” Laila Riley announced when she and Connie Collins turned up in Jess O’Brien’s office at The Inn at Eagle Point on a Saturday night. From the back cover: Jess O’Brien has overcome a lot – the challenges of attention deficit disorder, the near bankruptcy of her beloved Inn at Eagle Point and her self-perception as a screw-up in a family of overachievers. Now she’s…