Fiction | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

THE PRAGUE SONATA by Bradford Morrow

October 13, 2017

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A beautifully written book set against the background of the international world of music, both classic and general. Otylie Bautosova is a young girl that we meet in 1918 as she is saying goodbye to her father, a Czech soldier who is returning to the front at the very end of World War I. His parting words to Otylie are that music is everything and even the horrors of war revolve around it. He gives her a music manuscript that is clearly old and which her father tells her to guard and keep safe because it will ensure her future. Her father is then killed, becoming one of the last casualties of the war.

Years later, Otylie marries but the second world war intervenes. Her husband joins the partisans fighting the Nazi invaders but is unfortunately killed. With enough tragedy for several lifetimes, the capstone is the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Stalin and the Russians. Otylie manages to escape to England and works for the Czech government in exile while there. She later moves to the United States and her fate ties in with the second half of the book and the activities of an American pianist named Meta Taverner.

Meta lives in New York with the ability to become a great pianist. Unfortunately, she suffers an injury to one arm which takes away her ability to perform as required in playing great classical music. She is advised by a friend that there is a valuable undiscovered sonata in Prague. Meta makes the decision to try and locate the piece and return it to its rightful owners.

The search for the sonata is described beautifully by the author, whose expertise in the world of music makes this book a truly wonderful read. The reader is introduced to a world not often touched upon by most authors and introduces creativity given to some people that cause happiness in our world. This is truly a haunting book that will stay with the reader for a long time to come.

10/17 Paul Lane

THE PRAGUE SONATA by Bradford Morrow. Atlantic Monthly Press (October 3, 2017). ISBN 978-0802127150. 528p.

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FALLING FOR GRACIE by Susan Mallery

October 12, 2017

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Los Lobos Series, Book 2

I didn’t know about this series and for some reason, my library didn’t get the first book so I’m starting here. (But I might have to buy it, I really liked this one!) Susan Mallery has become one of my favorite contemporary romance writers. Her characters are always interesting, she writes good sex scenes, and I love her sense of humor.

Gracie was just fourteen years old when her father died and she fell madly in love with the 18-year-old hottie next door, Riley. At that age, four years makes a huge difference and Riley was not interested. But Gracie was nothing if not persistent, and the stunts she pulled to get his attention and to keep him from marrying his pregnant girlfriend were legendary. So much so that a series of newspaper articles about her kept the small town of Los Lobos enthralled but completely embarrassed her mother, who sent her off to live with an aunt and uncle.

Gracie never came home until fourteen years later, when her youngest sister was about to get married. The aunt and uncle died, leaving Gracie their home, and she started an uber-successful wedding cake business. Her sister is determined to have biggest, most ostentatious cake, and wedding, for that matter, even though she keeps calling it off every time her fiance does something she doesn’t like.

Alexis is the middle sister and the family drama queen, and she is convinced that her husband is cheating on her. He is managing Riley’s campaign for mayor, and Alexis convinces Gracie to spy on Riley’s house to see if her husband is really there. Of course Gracie gets caught, Alexis takes off and abandons her, and Riley demands an explanation of why his former stalker seems up to her old tricks.

Riley got divorced a few months after his marriage when he realized he was duped and his wife wasn’t pregnant. He left town after that, made his fortune and traveled the world. Unbeknownst to most of the town, his uncle, who owned the bank and left an estate of almost a hundred million dollars, left it to Riley with one proviso; he had to take over at the bank and become mayor of Los Lobos. Election season is underway but the standing mayor doesn’t mind playing dirty politics to keep his seat.

Gracie and Riley end up spending some time together, trying to find out what Gracie’s brother-in-law is up to, and find they enjoy their time together. They fall in love but there are obstacles in the way, not the least of which is someone tries to derail the mayoral campaign and destroy Gracie’s cake business.

There are a lot of laughs, some steamy sex scenes and a happy ending in this terrific contemporary romance. I read it in one night and highly recommend it.

10/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

FALLING FOR GRACIE by Susan Mallery. HQN Books (April 25, 2017). ISBN 978-0373801954. 384p.

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CHASING CHRISTMAS EVE by Jill Shalvis

October 11, 2017

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Heartbreaker Bay, Book 4

Colbie Albright is a bestselling author of a dystopian young adult series of books that are being turned into movies, but she writes under a pseudonym. When her publisher asks for a fourth book in the trilogy* to coincide with the movie premier, Colbie finds herself with a severe case of writers block. She decides to hop on a plane to somewhere warm and try and find her muse again.

(*No, that doesn’t add up but isn’t all that unusual! In real life, see Adriana Trigiani’s Big Stone Gap trilogy, I think there are at least 4 books, maybe 5?)

Colbie ends up in San Francisco, asks the cab driver to surprise her and she ends up visiting this famous fountain. Unfortunately, she ends up in the fountain when a large dog takes off and knocks her over. The dog’s walker, Spencer Baldwin, feels terrible and that is your meet-cute. He convinces her to come with him and provides her with laundry service, a place to stay, himself as a San Francisco tour guide and eventually, her lover.

Colbie isn’t exactly forthcoming about who she is and Spence assumes she is a struggling writer working on her first novel. Spence isn’t forthcoming about who he is either; he’s a tech millionaire workaholic with a history of bad romances. But there is such a strong attraction between them that they keep getting together, finding they have more and more in common. But Colbie has to get home by Christmas, and the fact she’s leaving let’s Spence feel comfortable with the short-term relationship. Until they both realize they want more…

If you are looking for a Christmas romance, this really isn’t it. The holiday aspects seem somewhat of an afterthought, but it is a fast, fun read. I thoroughly enjoy this series.

10/17 Stacy Alesi AKA the BookBitch™

CHASING CHRISTMAS EVE by Jill Shalvis. Avon (September 26, 2017). ISBN 978-0062697219. 272p.

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FAIRYTALE by Danielle Steel

October 10, 2017

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Let me start by saying that I think the last time I read a Danielle Steel book I was pregnant with my son and he is now 32 years old. I couldn’t tell you which book, but as I recall, it was an entertaining read but not much more than that.

My library patrons read her all the time and she has gone the way of many popular writers, spinning out several books a year. This one came up on a site I use to get digital review copies so I thought I’d give it a try.

I hated this book so much I’m not sure why I finished it, other than I fell back on an old bad habit of reading to the end in hopes it would get better. It didn’t.

I’ll start with the beginning. I’ve gone to a lot of writing conferences over the years, as a reader and a fan, and I’ve often heard writers talk about showing, not telling in their work. This book is a prime example of why that is. The first chunk, maybe 25-30% of the book, was a litany of people and places and their history. The people are Christophe and Joy, who meet, fall in love, build a winery, have a daughter they name Camille, and have a pretty perfect life. This covers 20 years.

Camille has just graduated Stanford and is happy to be home, working in the vineyard with her mother. Joy runs the business side of things, Christophe, along with his vineyard manager Cesare, run the winery side of things. More perfection. Only problem with perfection is that it’s boring. Camille and her parents get along beautifully, although Camille has no social life, because after all, working in the business and spending time with her parents is all any 20something wants out of life.

Yawn.

Eventually, some drama creeps in and Joy dies, and shortly after that the extremely happily married but now devastated Christophe meets a predator, the Countess Maxine, a highly skilled gold-digger whom he marries, waiting just past the one year anniversary of his beloved wife’s death, out of respect of course. Camille realizes that Maxine is not the kind woman her mother was, but her father is blinded by naivete and – wait for it – lust.

More tragedy occurs, and the evil stepmother, along with her two evil sons, are now making Camille’s life miserable. Luckily, friend of the family Sam and his son Phillipe step in to help. Camille and Phillipe grew up together, but he is seven years older than her so they’ve always had this brother-sister relationship.

Then as if the perfect life wasn’t enough of a fairy tale, Steel borrows heavily and heavy-handedly from the Cinderella story. The evil stepmother goes to the ball, and Camille’s “fairy grandmother” makes sure she goes, too, stealing her a dress and even lending her sparkly shoes to wear. The ultimately happy ending comes out of nowhere and didn’t make any sense to me for reasons that would give away the weak story altogether.

If you, dear reader, decide to read this book, I would love to hear from you. I can’t wait to talk to my library patrons about it, I am dying to know if anyone likes it. The early reviews on Amazon are wonderful, for the most part, which just confused me.

I was thoroughly disgusted by the end, more with myself for sticking with it and wasting two and a half hours of my life that I’ll never get back, but also with the ridiculous ending. Did I mention that I hated this book?

10/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

FAIRYTALE by Danielle Steel. Delacorte Press (October 10, 2017). ISBN 978-1101884065. 288p.

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SECOND CHANCE GIRL by Susan Mallory

October 8, 2017

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Happily Inc, Book 2

This is second book in this terrific new series. I loved the first book, You Say it First, and this one as well.

Happily, Inc. is a small town in the desert of California, not too far from Los Angeles. It is a destination wedding town, and almost all the businesses in Happily, Inc. cater to making brides happy. In the first book we met the owner of the major wedding planner and venue, and this book is about one of her friends, Carol Lund.

Carol is the local game keeper. Her father and his brother opened a recycling center that is the envy of everyone, and part of the land they purchased they turned over to Carol. They’ve brought in some endangered grazing animals, like zebras and a giraffe. But the giraffe is lonely, the females generally live in herds, so Carol is trying to raise the money to bring in more animals, but it’s slow going.

The Mathias brothers are all artists that live in town, too. And they’re gorgeous, of course. Originally from Fool’s Gold, (another series) they’ve moved here to get away from their overbearing, abusive father. One of the brothers, Mathias, lives next door to Carol. She is well aware of his penchant for bridesmaids and his love ’em and leave ’em lifestyle. But they become friends, and eventually much more than that.

Malley creates a somehow believable fairy tale world in her books, and that speaks to her writing. Her characters are flawed and real and her plotlines always interesting. And occasionally steamy! This is another terrific read in what is becoming one of my favorite series.

10/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SECOND CHANCE GIRL by Susan Mallory. HQN Books (September 26, 2017). ISBN 978-0373799350. 384p.

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JUST LIKE HEAVEN by Julia Quinn

October 7, 2017

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Smythe-Smith Quartet Series, Book 1

If you are in the mood for a sweet romance, this is your book. That said, there are a couple of pages of gristly medical procedure descriptions that I read with one eye…

Lady Honoria grew up with a large family, including her only brother Daniel. His best friend, Marcus, was an only child and spent much of his childhood with Honoria’s family, and she thinks of him like a brother.

Daniel has run into some trouble and has fled the country, asking Marcus to keep an eye on Honoria’s suitors as she is now in the marriage market. He scares off several unsuitable suitors, leaving her to face her third season still unwed. She hatches a plot where she digs a little hole in the yard, plants her foot in it and feigns injury – except no one comes to her aid except a laughing Marcus who was out walking the property line. Unfortunately, in “rescuing” Honoria, he actually falls into the hole and wrenches his ankle. Of course it starts raining, and it takes a couple of hours before help comes to get him home.

Honoria feels terrible since it is entirely her fault that he got hurt. And when his valet accidentally cuts his leg while cutting off the boot from the sprained ankle, an infection sets in which the doctor doesn’t notice. Marcus’s housekeeper sends a note to Honoria, telling her that he is deathly ill and she and her mother go to stay with him, helping to nurse him.

Marcus is not used to anyone taking care of him like Honoria does, and they fall in love. There is a sweet love scene towards the end, and they reach their happily ever after.

Quinn writes such good stories, always filled with humor and emotion. This is another excellent read.

10/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

JUST LIKE HEAVEN by Julia Quinn. Avon; First Edition edition (May 31, 2011). ISBN 978-0061491900. 384p.

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CHRISTMAS AT TWO LOVE LANE by Kieran Kramer

October 6, 2017

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Macy Frost believes she is a direct descendant of Cupid, so it’s only natural that she started a matchmaking business with her two best friends. But things don’t always go as planned as Macy learns after meeting Deacon Banks.

Deacon has moved to Charleston for a month to help his aunt, a retired TV big shot, settle in to her new town. Being from New York has some advantages here, for one thing Macy is enchanted with his accent, and he with hers. But his aunt wants him to meet someone and settle down, so he persuades Macy to set him up on some dates with the proviso that he is only in town for a fling and nothing more. That way he’ll make his aunt happy seeing him date, and he’ll be honest with the women he’s meeting.

Except Macy falls for Deacon, and he for her. Deacon persuades all the women she sets him up with to help him pursue Macy, and Macy finds herself more and more entrenched in a relationship with a client, a definite business no-no.

This is a fun read with a slightly steamy scene or two and I enjoyed it. I don’t know if I never noticed before but it seems to me that there are more and more holiday books every year, and that means I’ll have lots to pick from to get me through the holidays! This was a charming holiday story, and I really enjoyed it.

10/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

CHRISTMAS AT TWO LOVE LANE by Kieran Kramer. St. Martin’s Paperbacks (October 3, 2017). ISBN 978-1250111043. 352p.

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WINTER SOLSTICE by Elin Hilderbrand

October 5, 2017

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Just when you thought the Winter Street trilogy was over, Hilderbrand writes another last episode, turning this into a Christmas series, I guess, instead of a trilogy. Either way, I was happy!

I don’t want to give too much away, so here is what the publisher offers:

Raise one last glass with the Quinn Family at the Winter Street Inn.

It’s been too long since the entire Quinn family has been able to celebrate the holidays under the same roof, but that’s about to change. With Bart back safe and sound from Afghanistan, the Quinns are preparing for a holiday more joyous than any they’ve experienced in years. And Bart’s safe return isn’t the family’s only good news: Kevin is enjoying married life with Isabelle; Patrick is getting back on his feet after paying his debt to society; Ava thinks she’s finally found the love of her life; and Kelly is thrilled to see his family reunited at last. But it just wouldn’t be a Quinn family gathering if things went smoothly. A celebration of everything we love–and some of the things we endure–about the holidays, WINTER SOLSTICE is Elin Hilderbrand at her festive best.

This is a wonderful holiday series, and if you have the time, I recommend you give yourself a gift this holiday season and read all of them, in order. But you can certainly give this one a go on its own, but it probably won’t have you bawling. Well, maybe it will.

Hilderbrand says that this is her most autobiographical family story. She is not referring to the plot lines or all the details, but to the family structure, the guilt working mom’s have to contend with, and of course, life on Nantucket.

10/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WINTER SOLSTICE by Elin Hilderbrand. Little, Brown and Company (October 3, 2017). ISBN 978-0316435451. 304p.

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MERRY AND BRIGHT by Debbie Macomber

October 4, 2017

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Yay! Debbie’s back with another terrific Christmas book. After her last super Christiany (is that a word? Spell check doesn’t think so) Any Dream Will Do, a standalone novel, I was a little nervous thinking that maybe that was the direction she was going to be going in all her books. But it wasn’t. The Macomber I love is back and she remains my favorite author of Christmas stories.

This book was a direct ripoff of “You’ve Got Mail,” one of my favorite movies ever (which in itself was a remake of “The Shop Around the Corner”) and believe me, I am not complaining about that. In fact, Macomber even mentions it, poking a bit of fun at herself and I loved that moment.

Merry Knight is a hard-working temp filling in for someone on leave for a year. Her time at the company is up on Dec. 23, and she’s been socking away the money so she can go back to college and finish up. She lives at home with her parents and her brother, who has some challenges and she has enormous patience with all of them.

Her boss, Jaysen, is a bit of a jerk. He is the type who reads the rule book and lives by the rules. No eating at your desk. No holiday decorations. And so on. She has a nameplate on her desk that says “Mary” and the HR department is not inclined to correct it as she is only a temp, so Jaysen thinks that is her name.

For an early birthday gift, Merry’s parents and her brother buy her a subscription to an online dating service. It’s really not something that she wants, but her brother and mother are so excited about it that she doesn’t have the heart to tell them. They set up an account for her, using her dog’s picture instead of her own.

Jaysen’s best friend is getting married. He met his fiancée on an online dating site, so Jaysen decides to check it out. He is drawn to the dog account and uses a picture of his old dog as well. “Jay” signs on and he and Merry start chatting online and they both are infatuated rather quickly. But when they arrange to meet, Merry sees who “Jay” really is and takes off, leaving him frustrated and both of them upset.

Meanwhile, Jaysen realizes he’s been acting like a jerk at work and starts trying harder to be more pleasant. He soon finds himself attracted to “Mary” and well, you can see where this is going. Let’s just say they find their happily ever after, but not before there are more roadblocks to overcome.

I suspect this will become another Hallmark Chrismas movie. Just a hunch though, we cut the cord and don’t have cable or the Hallmark channel anymore…which I would gladly pay for if Hallmark would get with the times and offer their channels to us cord cutters! But I digress.

Another fun Christmas story from the Queen of Christmas. Loved it!

10/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

MERRY AND BRIGHT by Debbie Macomber. Ballantine Books (October 3, 2017). ISBN 978-0399181221. 272p.

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WITHOUT MERIT by Colleen Hoover

October 3, 2017

I am delighted to be part of the #WithoutMerit blog tour! Read on to find out how you can win a signed hardcover of WITHOUT MERIT!

Colleen Hoover is a terrific writer and is fast becoming one of my favorites. Right off the bat, I have to point out that I am not at all sure if this book is really more Young Adult, New Adult or just fiction, as the publisher has it. The protagonist is a 17-year-old girl, Merit Voss, and the book revolves around her, her dysfunctional family and mental illness. That said, it doesn’t really matter. The fact is that I couldn’t put it down and it was an excellent, emotional read – what I’ve come to expect from this author.

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Merit has been having a rough time lately. She has a huge crush on her identical twin sister Honor’s boyfriend Sagan and can’t really see how or why those two are together. Her relationship with her sister and her older brother Utah has deteriorated to the point where she feels like a third wheel. At one point she passively-aggressively decides to stop speaking to anyone in her family and wait to see how long it takes for anyone to notice – and they don’t.

The Voss family live in a house that is also a bit nutty – it was a church that their father bought in anger at the pastor and his barking dog. They used to live in the house behind the church, so now they own both. Merit’s father is remarried to an oncology nurse, Victoria, who he met while she was caring for his first wife, also named Victoria. Wife number one has recovered from her cancer but has a severe case of agoraphobia and lives in the basement of the church. She has her own apartment there and her kids bring her food and occasional company.

Every character is a bit off, but all have redeeming qualities and most are endearing in one way or another. This is one nutty family but it is Merit who is the narrator here so everything is taken from the point of view of a teenager who takes teenage-angst to a new level.

The story moves on its characters, and the reader can’t help but be sucked into this family and their problems. Once I started reading I couldn’t stop, and I was very sorry to turn the last page. As an aside, I was especially appreciative of the link to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America website.

These characters are going to stay with me for a long time. If you love quirky family stories that delve into real problems, you won’t want to miss this book. I loved it.

10/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WITHOUT MERIT by Colleen Hoover. Atria Books (October 3, 2017). ISBN 978-1501170621. 384p.

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Win 1 of 5 signed hardcover copies of WITHOUT MERIT!

Contest is open until October 30^th

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Slammed, This Girl, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, Maybe Someday, Ugly Love, Maybe Not, Confess, November 9, and It Ends with Us. She has won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance twice – for Confess in 2015 and It Ends with Us in 2016. Confess was adapted into a seven-episode online series. In 2015, Colleen and her family founded The Bookworm Box, a bookstore and monthly subscription service offering signed novels donated by authors. All profits are given to various charities each month to help those in need. Colleen lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys.