contemporary fiction – Page 2 – Always With a Book

k2reader August 19, 2022

A Summer to Remember by Erika Montgomery #bookreview #audiobook #backlistbook

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the finished copy of A Summer to Remember in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: May 11, 2021 Summary: For thirty-year-old Frankie Simon, selling movie memorabilia in the shop she opened with her late mother on Hollywood Boulevard is more than just her livelihood–it’s an enduring connection to…

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k2reader August 17, 2022

She’s Up to No Good by Sara Goodman Confino #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

Thank you Brilliance Audio for the ALC and GetRedPR and the author, #partner, for the finished copy of She’s Up to No Good in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: August 1, 2022 Summary: For two women generations apart, going home will change their lives in this funny, poignant, and life-affirming novel about family, secrets, and broken hearts by the author of For the…

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k2reader August 13, 2022

A Little Hope by Ethan Joella #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

This book is from my personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: November 16, 2021 Summary: An “immersive…illuminating” (Booklist) and life-affirming novel following the residents of an idyllic Connecticut town over the course of a year, A Little Hope explores the intertwining lives of a dozen neighbors as they confront everyday desires and fears: a lost love, a stalled career, an…

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k2reader July 21, 2022

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez #bookreview #audiobook

This book is from my personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio Published: January 4, 2022 Summary: A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria It’s 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are bold-faced names in…

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k2reader June 30, 2022

When We Let Go by Rochelle B. Weinstein #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Brilliance Audio for the ALC and @GetRedPrBooks & Lake Union Publishing, #partner, for the finished copy of When We Let Go in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: May 17, 2022 Summary: A moving novel of family and forgiveness and of hope and healing by Rochelle B. Weinstein, the USA Today bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends. When Avery Beckett…

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k2reader June 22, 2022

She Wouldn’t Change a Thing by Sarah Adlakha #bookreview #paperbackrelease

Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours and Forge Books, #partner, for the paperback copy of She Wouldn’t Change a Thing in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Forge Books Published: June 7, 2022 (first published August 2021) Summary: Sliding Doors meets Life After Life in Sarah Adlakha’s story about a wife and mother who is given the chance to start over at the risk of losing everything she loves. A second chance is the last…

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k2reader June 22, 2022

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth #bookreview

Thank you St. Martin’s Press/Netgalley #partner, for the advanced copy of The Younger Wife in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Published: April 5, 2022 Summary: THE HUSBAND A heart surgeon at the top of his field, Stephen Aston is getting married again. But first he must divorce his current wife, even though she can no longer speak for herself. THE DAUGHTERS Tully and Rachel…

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k2reader June 14, 2022

The Friendship Pact by Jill Shalvis #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Harper Audio for the ALC and @GetRedPrBooks & Avon Books, #partner, for the finished copy of The Friendship Pact in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Avon Books / Harper Audio Published: June 14, 2022 Summary: New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a powerful, moving story about a young woman on a quest to find the truth about her father who learns…

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k2reader June 14, 2022

It All Comes Down to This by Therese Anne Fowler #bookreview #audiobook #netgalley

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press/Netgalley #partner, for the advanced copy of It All Comes Down To This in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: June 7, 2022 Summary: Therese Anne Fowler’s It All Comes Down to This is a warm, keenly perceptive novel of sisterhood, heartbreak, home, and what it takes to remake a life at its halfway…

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k2reader June 6, 2022

Counterfeit by Kirstin Chin #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Librofm, Harper Audio for the ALC and William Morrow #partner, for the finished copy of Counterfeit in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Harper Audio / William Morrow Published: June 7, 2022 Summary: For fans of Hustlers and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, the story of two Asian American women who band together to grow a counterfeit handbag scheme into a global enterprise–an incisive and glittering blend…

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k2reader May 28, 2022

Review: Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing Published: November 30, 2021 Source: Publisher Summary: In this thought-provoking and entertaining debut novel about of a multicultural family, a dying billionaire matriarch leaks news of her death early so she can examine her legacy–a decision that horrifies her children and inadvertently exposes secrets she has spent a lifetime keeping. Dava Shastri, one of the world’s wealthiest women, has always lived with her sterling reputation…

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k2reader May 17, 2022

Review: One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (audio)

Publisher: Atria Books / Simon and Schuster Audio Published: March 1, 2022 Source: Print – Netgalley / Audio – ALC via Simon & Schuster Audio Summary: The New York Times best-selling author of the “heartwarming, heartbreaking, and hard to put down” (Laurie Frankel, New York Times best-selling author) modern classic In Five Years returns with a moving and unforgettable exploration of the powerful bond between mother and daughter set on the breathtaking Amalfi Coast. When…

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k2reader May 2, 2022

Review: The Next Thing You Know by Jessica Strawser

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Published: March 22, 2022 Source: ARC E-copy via Pubisher Summary: A musician facing the untimely end of his career. An end-of-life doula with everything, and nothing, to lose. A Star Is Born meets Me Before You in this powerful novel by the author of A Million Reasons Why. As an end-of-life doula, Nova Huston’s job—her calling, her purpose, her life—is to help terminally ill people…

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k2reader April 27, 2022

Review: The First Kennedys by Neal Thompson

Publisher: Mariner Books Published: February 22, 2022 Source: Hardcover via Publisher Summary: Based on genealogical breakthroughs and previously unreleased records, this is the first book to explore the inspiring story of the poor Irish refugee couple who escaped famine, created a life together in a city hostile to Irish, immigrants, and Catholics, and launched the Kennedy dynasty in America. Their Irish ancestry was a hallmark of the Kennedys’ initial…

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k2reader April 27, 2022

Review: Everything Must Go by Camille Pagan (audio)

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: April 26, 2022 Source: Print – Finished copy via KCCPR/SuzyApprovedBookTours / Audio – ALC via Brilliance Audio Summary: A warm, wry novel about secrets, second chances, and the unbreakable bonds between mothers, daughters, and sisters by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of Life and Other Near-Death Experiences. Laine Francis believes there’s a place for everything—and New York, where her family lives,…

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k2reader April 16, 2022

Blog Tour & Excerpt: Summer at the Cape by RaeAnne Thayne

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for Summer at the Cape by RaeAnne Thayne – I have an excerpt for you to read thanks to HQN. Publisher: HQN Published: April 12, 2022 Source: Netgalley via Publisher SUMMARY: From the beloved bestselling author of Season of Wonder and The Cliff House comes a poignant and uplifting novel about forgiveness, family and all the complications—and joy — that come with it As the…

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k2reader April 12, 2022

Review: The Caretakers by Amanda Bestor-Siegal (audio)

Publisher: Harper Audio Published: April 12, 2022 Source: Netgalley Summary: Set in a wealthy Parisian suburb, an emotionally riveting debut told from the point of view of six women, and centered around a group of au pairs, one of whom is arrested after a sudden and suspicious tragedy strikes her host family—a dramatic exploration of identity, class, and caregiving from a profoundly talented new writer. Paris, 2015. A crowd…

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k2reader April 9, 2022

Blog Tour & Review: A Family Affair by Robyn Carr (audio)

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for A Family Affair by Robyn Carr. Thank you MIRA for inviting me to participate. Publisher: MIRA / Harper Audio Published: April 5, 2022 Source: Print: Netgalley via HTP Books / Audio: ALC via Harper Audio SUMMARY: Life’s biggest dilemmas can provide its sweetest rewards Anna McNichol knows how to take charge. Raised by a single…

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k2reader April 8, 2022

Blog Tour & Review: Fool Me Once by Ashley Winstead

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for Fool Me Once by Ashley Winstead. Thank you Graydon House for inviting me to participate. Publisher: Graydon House Published: April 5, 2022 Source: Netgalley via Publisher SUMMARY: In this fierce and funny battle of the exes, Ashley Winstead’s FOOL ME ONCE explores the chaos of wanting what you already had. Lee Stone is a twenty-first-century woman: she kicks…

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k2reader April 7, 2022

Blog Tour & Excerpt: Summer on the Island by Brenda Novak

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for Summer on the Island by Brenda Novak – I have an excerpt for you to read thanks to MIRA. Publisher: MIRA Published: April 5, 2022 Source: Netgalley via Publisher SUMMARY: A summer of healing, friendship, love…and a secret that could change everything. After the death of her US senator father, Marlow Madsen travels to the small…

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k2reader April 4, 2022

Review: Moment in Time by Suzanne Redfearn (audio)

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: March 8, 2022 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via Author / Audio – ALC via Brilliance Audio Summary: From the bestselling author of In an Instant comes a heartrending story about the power of friendship during the most challenging moments in life. It’s been eight years since a tragic accident changed Mo Kaminski’s and Chloe Miller’s lives forever. Now in their midtwenties, they’re…

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k2reader March 28, 2022

Review: Home or Away by Kathleen West

Publisher: Berkley Publisher Published: March 29, 2022 Source: ARC E-copy via Netgalley / Hardcopy via Kathleen Carter Communications Summary: Two friends, one Olympic dream, and the choice that stood in the way. Once Leigh and Susy were close friends and teammates bound for Olympic hockey gold, but when Leigh’s sure-fire plan to make the final roster backfired, she left everything behind to start over, including the one person…

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k2reader March 17, 2022

Review: The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

Publisher: Riverhead Books Published: July 6, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: It is a perfect July morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace” — the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex…

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k2reader February 4, 2022

Review: The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis (audio)

Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Audio Published: January 11, 2022 Source: Paperback via GetRedPR / Audio via Library Summary: Beloved New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis begins a new series–Sunrise Cove–set near beautiful Lake Tahoe, with a heartwarming story of found family and love. During the snowstorm of the century Levi Cutler is stranded on a ski lift with a beautiful stranger named Jane. After strong winds hurl the gondola…

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k2reader January 11, 2022

Review: The Sweetest Remedy by Jane Igharo

Publisher: Berkley Books Published: September 28, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: When a woman travels to Nigeria to attend the funeral of the father she never knew, she meets her extravagant family for the first time, a new and inspiring love interest, and discovers parts of herself she didn’t know were missing, from Jane Igharo, the acclaimed author of Ties That Tether. Hannah Bailey has never known her father, the…

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k2reader January 11, 2022

Blog Tour & Spotlight: Legends of the North Cascades by Jonathan Evison

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for Legends of the North Cascades by Jonathan Evison . This is out in paperback today and I’m happy to help the publisher get the word out. Read about the book and see what everyone has to say about it. Publisher: Algonquin Books Published: January 11, 2022 (Paperback Release) Summary: “A beautifully rendered and cinematic portrait of…

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k2reader January 8, 2022

Review: A Million Things by Emily Spurr

Publisher: Berkley Published: August 24, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: A bursting, heartfelt, debut following fifty-five days in the life of ten-year-old Rae, who must look after herself and her dog when her mother disappears. For as long as Rae can remember, it’s been her and Mum, and their dog, Splinter; a small, deliberately unremarkable, family. They have their walks, their cooking routines, their home. Sometimes Mum disappears for…

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k2reader January 7, 2022

Blog Tour & Review: The Tenderest of Strings by Steven Schwartz

Publisher: Regal House Publishing Published: January 4, 2022 Source: ARC Paperback via Over the River PR Summary: In search of a new life, Reuben and Ardith Rosenfeld and their two children move from Chicago to the small town of Welton, Colorado, looking for all the hope that the burgeoning West has to offer—its abundance of jobs, space, sunshine, prosperity, and the promise of reinvention. Reuben, a former copyeditor at…

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k2reader January 4, 2022

Review: The Removed by Brandon Hobson

Publisher: Ecco Published: February 2, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: Steeped in Cherokee myths and history, a novel about a fractured family reckoning with the tragic death of their son long ago—from National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson In the fifteen years since their teenage son, Ray-Ray, was killed in a police shooting, the Echota family has been suspended in private grief. The mother, Maria, increasingly struggles to manage…

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k2reader December 26, 2021

Review: The Return by Nicholas Sparks (audio)

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Audio Published: September 29, 2020 Source: Print – Hardcover via Grand Central Publishing / Audio via Library Summary: In the romantic tradition of Dear John and The Lucky One, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks returns with the story of an injured Navy doctor — and two women whose secrets will change the course of his life. Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New…

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k2reader December 23, 2021

Review: The Secret of Snow by Viola Shipman

Publisher: Graydon House Published: October 26, 2021 Source: Paperback via Kathleeen Carter Communications Summary: As comforting and familiar as a favorite sweater, Viola Shipman’s first holiday novel is a promise of heartfelt family traditions, humorously real experience, and the enduring power of love and friendship. Sonny Dunes, a SoCal meteorologist who knows only sunshine and seventy-two-degree days, is being replaced by an AI meteorologist, which the youthful station manager reasons “will…

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k2reader December 23, 2021

Review: The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Published: October 5, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: The International Bestseller–A feel-good, holiday rom com about identical twins who swap lives twelve days before Christmas–perfect for fans of Christina Lauren’s In a Holidaze and Josie Silver’s One Day in December All they want for Christmas is a different life. When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she…

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k2reader December 20, 2021

Review: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio)

Publisher: Random House Audio Published: June 1, 2021 Source: ALC via Libro.fm Summary: Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of 24 hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives will change forever. Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas:…

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k2reader December 18, 2021

Review: Suddenly Last Summer by Sarah Morgan

Publisher: Harlequin HQN Published: June 24, 2014 Source: Netgalley Summary: Bestselling author Sarah Morgan delivers another irresistible hero in her O’Neil Brothers series who’s more tempting than dessert and twice as sinful! Fiery French chef Élise Philippe is having a seriously bad day. Not only have the opening day plans for her beloved café fallen apart, but Sean O’Neil is back in town, and looking more delectable than ever.…

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k2reader December 12, 2021

Review: Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

Publisher: Ballantine Books Published: November 30, 2021 Source: ARC E-copy via Publisher/Netgalley Summary: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a deeply moving novel about the resilience of the human spirit in a moment of crisis. Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional…

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k2reader November 12, 2021

Review: No Hiding in Boise by Kim Hooper (audio)

Publisher: Turner Publishing Company / Dreamscape Media Published: June 15, 2021 Source: Print – ARC via Turner Publishing / Audio – via library Summary: When Angie is awakened by a midnight call from an officer with the Boise Police Department, she thinks there must be a misunderstanding. The officer tells her that her husband was involved in a shooting at a local bar, but how can that be possible when her…

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k2reader November 9, 2021

Review: November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Publisher: Atria Books Published: November 10, 2015 Source: ARC Paperback via Publisher Summary: Beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover returns with an unforgettable love story between a writer and his unexpected muse. Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has…

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k2reader October 4, 2021

Review: No More Words by Kerry Lonsdale (audio)

Publisher: Brilliance Audio Published: July 6, 2021 Source: Publisher Summary: From the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes the first book in a trilogy about love, betrayal, and the secrets families keep. Forced to choose between abortion or adoption, Olivia Carson’s younger sister, Lily, runs away from home. Sixteen and pregnant, she never returns. But she writes. Once a year, Lily mails a picture of her…

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k2reader September 16, 2021

Review: The Second Home by Christina Clancy (audio)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: June 2, 2020 Source: Print: ARC E-copy via Netgalley / Audio via Library Summary: Some places never leave you… After a disastrous summer spent at her family’s home on Cape Cod when she is seventeen, Ann Gordon is very happy to never visit Wellfleet again. If only she’d stayed in Wisconsin, she might never have met Anthony Shaw, and she would…

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k2reader September 9, 2021

Book Spotlight: Catch Us When We Fall by Juliette Fay

This book is coming out in a few weeks and I’m so excited to share it with you today. I’ll be reading it soon, but in the meantime, read a little bit about the book and see what everyone has to say about it. Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks Published: September 21, 2021 Source: GetRed PR Summary: If you love the emotionally complex novels of JoJo Moyes and the…

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k2reader August 30, 2021

Review: The People We Keep by Allison Larkin (audio)

Publisher: Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: August 3, 2021 Source: Print: Personal copy via BOTM / Audio via Library Summary: The People we Keep is about a young songwriter longing to find a home in the world. Little River, New York, 1994: April Sawicki is living in a run-down motorhome, flunking out of school, and picking up shifts at the local diner. But when April realizes…

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k2reader August 17, 2021

Review: Limelight by Amy Poeppel (audio)

Publisher: Atria / Emily Bestler Books / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: May 14, 2019 (Paperback Release) / May 1, 2018 (Original Pub Date) Source: Print: Paperback via Author / Audio via library Summary: In a smart and funny novel by the author of the critically acclaimed “big-hearted, charming” (The Washington Post) Small Admissions, a family’s move to New York City brings surprises and humor. Allison Brinkley—wife, mother, and former…

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k2reader July 23, 2021

Review: We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange (audio)

Publisher: Celadon Books / Macmillan Audio Published: August 3, 2021 Source: Print: Arc Paperback via Celadon Early Reads Program / Audio: ALC via Macmillan Audio Summary: In the vein of Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes and Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest, Tracey Lange’s We Are the Brennans explores the staying power of shame—and the redemptive power of love—in an Irish Catholic family torn apart by secrets. When twenty-nine-year-old…

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