June is Audiobook Month and Jen at Devourer of Books is hosting a special week dedicated to audiobooks this week. I’m sad to see that this special week is coming to a close. I’ve had a great time meeting new bloggers who love audio as much as I have come to and have added a ton of titles to look for when I need a new audio. Today’s discussion…
View Post
June is Audiobook Month and Jen at Devourer of Books is hosting a special week dedicated to audiobooks this week. I’m going to participate as much as I can. Today’s discussion topic is actually a quick meme that you just have to copy and fill in with your own answers. Current/most recent audiobook: Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen and read by Jennifer Van Dyck Impressions: I’m really enjoying it.…
View Post
Please join me in welcomingCathy Holton, author of Summer in the South to Always With a Book! If you missed my review, you can read it here. Today Darien guest blogs about what inspired her new novel. Enjoy and be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win one of 3 signed copies of the book! Love, Class, and Murder in the New South Twenty-five years ago I…
View Post
June is Audiobook Month and Jen at Devourer of Books is hosting a special week dedicated to audiobooks this week. I’m going to participate as much as I can. Today’s discussion topics are about sound effects: Love them? Hate them? Take them or leave them? How do you feel about sound effects in audiobooks? Alternate suggestions: Single narrator vs. multiple narrators vs. full cast, audio dramatizations, etc. Having only listened…
View Post
First line: The body was lying on a table in the basement of the Purdy Funeral Home. Why I read it: I was contacted by the author to read and review this book. From the inside cover: Cathy Holton, author of the popular Beach Trip, returns with an intriguing and mysterious tale of dark deeds and family secrets in a small Southern town. After a personal tragedy, Chicago writer Ava…
View Post
June is Audiobook Month and Jen at Devourer of Books is hosting a special week dedicated to audiobooks this week. I’m going to participate as much as I can. The first discussion topic for this week is “2010-2011, Your Audiobook Year.” And the description for this discussion topic is: Are you new to audiobooks in the last year? Have you been listening to them forever but discovered something new this…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading , hosted by Sheila, isthe perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. My computer crashed two weeks ago, so I was unable to participate in this meme last…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (0) Library (1) Chasing the Night by Iris Johansen (audio book) Purchased (2) Room by Emma Donoghue Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Free Downloads (0) Borrowed from family member (0) From Paperback Swap (0) Won (0) What’s in your mailbox?
View Post
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…
View Post
CONGRATULATIONS to Gwendolyn winner of Friendship Bread by Darien Gee Random.org selected the winners. Thanks to all who entered the giveaway!
View Post
Here are my reading stats for May! Books read: 13 Books I read (reviewed ones have * and link to review) Ten Beach Road* by Wendy Wax Elizabeth I* by Margaret George A Turn in the Road* by Debbie Macomber Pandora’s Daughter* by Iris Johansen Moonlight Cove* by Sherryl Woods Friendship Bread* by Darien Gee 10th Anniversary* by James Patterson The Art of Mending* by Elizabeth Berg Here, Home, Hope*…
View Post
My computer is all fixed…hopefully I will be back on track tomorrow with some reviews and stuff. Thanks for being patient.
View Post
It appears my laptop has been infected with a virus which keeps causing it to crash. Hubby tried to fix it but I now need to take it somewhere to have it looked at. Until then, I will be without a computer so posts with be sparse for the foreseeable future. Hopefully I will be back online within a week!
View Post
From the back of the audio case: It begins with the sudden revelation of astonishing secrets – secrets that have shaped the personalities and fates of three siblings, and now threaten to tear them apart. In renowned author Elizabeth Berg’s moving new novel, unearthed truths force on seemingly ordinary family to reexamine their disparate lives and to ask themselves: Is it too late to mend the hurts of the past?…
View Post
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…
View Post
Please join me in welcoming Deborah Cloyed, author of the new book, The Summer We Came to Life to Always With a Book!If you missed my review, you can read it here.Today Deborah talks about the modern world of dating. An Ode to Modern Dating By Deborah Cloyed When my book The Summer We Came to Life opens, Samantha, age 29, has accepted a marriage proposal from a rich, successful,…
View Post
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…
View Post
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…
View Post
First line: Here’s how I knew something about my life had to change. From the back cover: Kelly Mills Johnson becomes restless in her thirty-ninth year. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her ordinary middle-American existence and her neighbors’ seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding but…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading , hosted by Sheila, isthe perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. Didn’t get quite as much reading done as I had hoped last week, but I am…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (2) The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by CW Gortner Creed’s Honor by Linda Lael Miller Library (0) Purchased (5) – From Library and Church Book Sales 1st To Die by James Patterson 2nd Chance by James Patterson Kiss the Girls by…
View Post
Please join me in welcomingDarien Gee, author of Friendship Bread to Always With a Book! If you missed my review, you can read it here. Today Darien guest blogs about what inspired her new novel. Enjoy and be sure to enter the giveaway! The Bread That Inspired a Novel If you’re never heard of Amish Friendship Bread, your life is about to change forever. Mine certainly was. Amish Friendship Bread…
View Post
First line: Leon adjusts the 25mm Plossl eyepiece and swings his scope toward the heavens. About the book: It’s more than just a recipe—it’s a way of life. For fans of Kristin Hannah and Kate Jacobs, Darien Gee’s deeply felt and utterly charming novel follows two estranged sisters, three newfound friends, and—ultimately—a whole town brought together by a simple loaf of Amish Friendship Bread. In Avalon, Illinois, a woman and…
View Post
First line: “I think Dad wants to get back together,” Bethanne’s daughter, Annie spoke with studied nonchalance. From the inside cover: In the middle of the year, in the middle of her life, Bethanne Hamlin takes a road trip with her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth. They’re driving to Florida for Ruth’s 50th high-school reunion. A longtime widow, Ruth would like to reconnect with Royce, the love of…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading , hosted by Sheila, isthe perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. As busy as last week was, I did manage to get in a lot of reading…
View Post
First line: It was dark where she was crouched but the little girl did as she’d been told. From the back cover: A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book – a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (1) The Summer We Came to Life by Deborah Cloyed Library (1) When the Killing’s Done by TC Boyle (book club book) Purchased (3) 10th Anniversary by James Patterson The Confessions of Katherine Howard by Suzanne Dunn Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya…
View Post
From the back of the audio case: For as long as she can remember, successful young physician Megan Blair has tried to silence the voices in her head – voices that bring her to the edge of madness and terror. Megan possesses psychic powers that have been dormant for years, hidden deep in the past she’s tried so desperately to forget. But now everything has come to a boiling point…
View Post
About the book: Alycia Ripley was always obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. In her latest book she uses that obsession to paint a fantastical and thrilling tale of good versus evil. This is not the Alice of your childhood. It’s an entirely new slice of Wonderland for a very modern audience. Cruel office managers, sadistic cheerleaders, and a two-headed contractor are only some of the obstacles Alice must face and…
View Post
Please join me in welcomingMargaret George, author of Elizabeth I to Always With a Book! If you missed my review, you can read it here. Today Margaret guest blogs about choosing which voice to use in writing. Finding Your Voice—Writing in the Third Person—or First? Big choice—major fork in the road—third person or first? If you choose wrong, you’ll have to go back and start all over. They each have…
View Post
First line: Felice Peretti, otherwise known as Pope Sixtus V, stood swaying before the stack of rolled Bulls. Synopsis from publisher: One of today’s premier historical novelists, Margaret George dazzles here as she tackles her most difficult subject yet: the legendary Elizabeth Tudor, queen of enigma-the Virgin Queen who had many suitors, the victor of the Armada who hated war; the gorgeously attired, jewel- bedecked woman who pinched pennies. England’s…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading , hosted by Sheila, is the perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. Last week was a busy week, but I did make it to the author meet…
View Post
First line: Heather Donovan propped open the front door and stood just inside the brightly lit storefront in Chesapeake Shores so she could inhale the scent of sea air from the bay across Shore Road. From the back cover: Single mom Heather Donovan’s dreams of home and family are tantalizingly within reach when she settles in Chesapeake Shores. The welcoming arms of the boisterous, loving O’Brien clan embrace her and…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (1) Summer in the South by Cathy Holton Library (0) Purchased (2) Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg Dream When You’re Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg Free Downloads (0) Borrowed from family member (0) From Paperback Swap – (0) Won (0) – …
View Post
From the back of the audio case: Callie Perry is a successful family photographer living in tony Bedford, New York. She adores her children, has great friends, and actually doesn’t mind that her workaholic husband gets home at 9 p.m. every night. Steffi is Callie’s younger sister, and unlike her irrefutably settled sibling, Steffi has never grown up. She’s always been a free spirit, living in Manhattan. But she will…
View Post
The local mom-and-pop bookstore near me, Books and Greetings, has author visits all the time. I’ve been a few times – to see children’s book author Jane O’Connor (she writes the Fancy Nancy books) and then Nicholas Sparks when he was touring with his latest book, Safe Haven. Last night Elizabeth Berg was there. I became familiar with Elizabeth Berg’s work from my blogging friend Sheila over at Book Journey.…
View Post
First line: Though she was careful not to show it, Madeline Singer did not fall apart when her youngest child let for college. From the back cover: On the brink of ruin, three very different women discover themselves where they least expect it…at Ten Beach Road. Madeline, Avery, and Nikki are strangers to one another, but they have one thing in common. They each wake up one morning to discover…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading , hosted by Sheila, isthe perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. I have no idea where last week went – I didn’t accomplish much as far as…
View Post
Here are my reading stats for April! Books read: 11 Books I read (reviewed ones have * and link to review) Plain Truth* by Jodi Picoult Blackberry Crumble* by Josi S. Kilpack Bedeviled Eggs* by Laura Childs The Bone Trail* by Nell Walton Already Home* by Susan Mallery Family Affair by Debbie Macomber The Goodbye Quilt* by Susan Wiggs Deja Dead* by Kathy Reichs Promises to Keep by Jane Green…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (0) Library (5) Pandora’s Daughter by Iris Johansen (audio book) Eight Days to Live by Iris Johansen (audio book) The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg (audio book) A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber Moonlight Cove by Sherryl Woods Purchased…
View Post
First line: I wasn’t thinking about the man who’d blown himself up. From the back cover: Her life is devoted to justice – for those she never even knew. In the year since Temperance Brennan left behind a shaky marriage in North Carolina, work has often preempted her weekend plans to explore Quebec. When a female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in trash bags, Tempe detects an alarming…
View Post
This week’s musing asks: Do the members of your family read? Do you think it was passed down to you? ((or, if you want you can answer this: Who do you think influenced you as a reader?)) PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks. **MUSING MONDAYS is…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading , hosted by Sheila, is the perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. We went up to our cabin this past weekend which was so relaxing – no…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (1) Ten Beach Road by Wendy Wax Library (1) Driftwood Cottage by Sherryl Woods Purchased (0) Free Downloads (0) Borrowed from family member (0) From Paperback Swap – (1) The Quilter’s Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini Won (0) – What’s in your…
View Post
First line: Dan says I should quit reading all those homemaker magazines. From the back cover: Linda Davis’s local fabric shop is a place where women gather to share their creations: wedding quilts, baby quilts, memorial quilts, each bound tight with dreams, hopes and yearnings. Now, as her only child readies for college, Linda is torn between excitement for Molly and heartache for herself. Who will she be when she…
View Post
First line: “I’ve got the backbone of a worm,” Lacey Lancaster muttered as she let herself into her apartment. From the inside cover: Lacey Lancaster has always longed to be a wife and mother. However, after a painful divorce, she decides it’s time to lay low for a while in her charming San Francisco apartment with her beautiful Abyssinian cat, Cleo. Everything would be wonderful, except for her utterly impossible…
View Post
First line: “He reads Mario Puzzo,” Suzanne murmured, focusing on a couple that was eyeing each other warily. From the back cover: After losing their husbands, Suzanne, Toni, and Petra bonded, gaining a newfound independence as well as a wealth of support, inspiration, home baked goods, and their own business. but who would have dreamed that when the Cackleberry Club cafe opened its doors, the three women would be serving…
View Post
First line: “What do you think?” Jenna Stevens asked, doing her best to sound confident. From the back cover: After nearly a decade as a sous chef in a trendy eatery, Jenna is desperate for a change. She’s supported her ex-husband’s dreams for so long that she can’t even remember her own. Until she sees a for-lease sign near her parents’ home and envisions her very own cooking store. Her…
View Post
It’s Monday What Are you Reading , hosted by Sheila, isthe perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs. It was a pretty productive week last week and I’m hoping this week coming up will…
View Post
In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. Every week I’ll post what books I’ve received either by mailbox/library/store. For Review (1) Releasing Gillian’s Wolves by Tara Woolpy Library (4) Promises to Keep by Jane Green (audio book) Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie (audio book) We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg (audio book) Family Affair by Debbie Macomber Purchased (0)…
View Post