THE CUBAN AFFAIR by Nelson DeMille

September 30, 2017

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The versatile Nelson DeMille presents us with the next book coming from his fertile imagination. We have a new main character, an action-filled plot and the usual amount of tongue-in-cheek humor interspersed with that action.

Daniel Graham MacCormick, or as his friends call him Mac, is a U.S. Army veteran that served five years as an infantry officer in Afghanistan. He has the medals to show that he served with distinction while stationed there. We meet him living in Key West Florida, owning a 42-foot charter boat along with the bank as the principal owner and looking at a future he’s not too happy with.

Mac is waiting at the Green Parrot Bar; a Key West landmark, for Carlos a lawyer from Miami whose forte is representing anti-Castro groups. Carlos wants to hire him for a 10-day cruise to Cuba, paying the standard rate.

Mac quickly turns it down but jumps when Carlos presents him with a new plan to go after a hidden fortune and a chance to make 2 million dollars for the same trip. Obviously, the new plan is fraught with danger in order to enable MacCormick to earn that kind of money. But – money talks – quite loudly as a matter of fact. And it doesn’t hurt when the very beautiful Sara Ortega is presented as the person that will accompany Mac on the trip. It will be her job to handle the details involved going after the hidden fortune. Sara is an American citizen of Cuban background and has already taken a trip to the island one year ago.

The period in which the action takes place is recent and coincides with the US entering a period of normalization of relations with Cuba. DeMille traveled to the island to do background research and is very open with his opinions. These are narrated by Mac and Sara and indicate that real normalization and the spread of economic opportunity must wait for the end of the Castro regime. The two landing on Cuba meet with a police state and complete control of the population by a dictatorial government in order to maintain the dictatorship that has existed for many years.

Mac and Sara go through the ordeal of going after the hidden fortune and not surprisingly find real love together. There should be further novels involving the two but their opening adventure in Cuba is a fascinating tour of a dictatorship existing 90 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida. It sets a blistering pace and makes reading future novels with them mandatory.

9/17 Paul Lane

THE CUBAN AFFAIR by Nelson DeMille. Simon & Schuster (September 19, 2017).  ISBN 978-1501101724. 448p.

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LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng

September 29, 2017

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Sometimes when a book gets a lot of buzz, I hold off on reading it because inevitably I’m disappointed. So I never read Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, her debut novel. This is her sophomore effort, and it is a wonderful read; so wonderful, I just downloaded her debut onto my iPad.

The title literally refers to small fires set on all the beds in the Richardson household. The book opens with the fire, and the house burning to the ground, but the family are all safe. I think the title also refers to all the little fires that families and friends have to put out every day, the misunderstandings both big and small. And maybe the baby that was abandoned at the fire station. It is an excellent and thought provoking title.

The Richardson family lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, which claims to be the first planned community in the United States and is a suburb of Cleveland. Elena Richardson grew up there and convinced her fiancé there would be no better place to raise a family. He’s a lawyer and she is a planner of lives; the house, her career, and four children in quick succession. The first three were a dream, Trip, the oldest boy, a teenage heartthrob, both good looking and charming; Lexie, the oldest girl, a bright student and a popular, pretty girl; Moody, the other son, more of a loner than his big brother, and finally Izzie, the baby and the most difficult. Izzie was a difficult pregnancy, a premie with complications who came with warnings of a lifetime of possible health issues, none of which came to bear. Nonetheless, Elena and Izzie’s relationship is rough. Izzie is headstrong and outspoken and happily breaks rules right and left, something Elena abhors and causes her grief on a regular basis.

The Richardsons live in a big house in the affluent end of town, and own a small two-family rental nearby. Elena only rents to those who she feels is deserving of this place, and when single mom Mia and her teenage daughter Pearl move in, Elena feels like she has given them a helping hand. Mia is an artist whose medium is photography, and the two of them have lived like nomads throughout Pearl’s life. But here in Shaker Heights, Mia promises that they will stay so Pearl makes friends, first with Moody and Lexie, and then she falls for Trip.

Elena hires Mia for a few hours a day to clean the house and prepare dinner, and pays her enough to cover her rent. As Pearl becomes more and more comfortable in the Richardson household, Izzie becomes intrigued with Mia and begs to be allowed to be her assistant. Mia acquiesces, and they form a strong bond.

These two families find themselves on opposite sides when Elena’s closest friend ends up in an adoption war. After fourteen years of trying for a baby, they finally get a beautiful Chinese infant who was abandoned at a fire station. The adoption process is long, and shortly before it will be finalized, Mia learns about the baby and realizes that she knows the birth mother who deeply regretted leaving the baby. She tells her, all hell breaks loose and the town and the media all get involved  There can be no happy ending here.

Ng has created a world of believable characters, none of whom is perfect. This is a  compelling story that is driven by these characters and was unputdownable. I really loved the writing and highlighted several passages. Some samples:

All her life, she had learned that passion, like fire, was a dangerous thing. It so easily went out of control.

On racism:

Maybe at birth everyone should be given to a family of another race to be raised. Maybe that would solve racism once and for all.

And probably my favorite, on learning how to deal with your teenage children as they pull away from you:

It was like training yourself to live on the smell of an apple alone, when what you really wanted was to devour it, to sink your teeth into it and consume it, seeds, core and all.

I can’t wait to share this book with my book discussion group. Don’t miss it.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng. Penguin Press; 1st Edition edition (September 12, 2017). ISBN 978-0735224292. 352p.

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YOU SAY IT FIRST by Susan Mallery

September 28, 2017

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A Small-Town Wedding Romance, Happily Inc. Book 1

Happily, Inc. is a small town in the desert of California, not too far from Los Angeles. It is a wedding destination town, and most of the town’s businesses cater to brides and their wedding dreams.

Pallas Saunders has recently inherited the premier wedding venue in Happily, Inc. She worked there as a wedding planner, and the owner had no family who would want the business. Nonetheless, she is shocked to have inherited it and really wants to make a success of it. The finances are shaky, however, so it will take some ingenuity to keep it going.

That ingenuity comes in handy when a video game designer wants their wedding to be held there, and in a very short time frame. Every other wedding planner has passed, but Pallas needs the money and her heart goes out to the bride; the time crunch is because her father is dying.

Nick Mitchell is a sculptor and woodworker who has moved to the town along with his artist brothers to escape their abusive father. Nick likes Pallas, and wants to help her succeed. She doesn’t realize how famous he is, so when he offers to help restore some wood panels she has, she takes him up on his offer. Spending time together leads to a hot romance, and their happily ever after.

This was a fun read with lots of emotional drama as well as laughter, and so is the next book in the series, Second Chance Girl.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

YOU SAY IT FIRST by Susan Mallery. HQN Books (August 22, 2017).  ISBN 978-0373804160.  304p.

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HOLLY AND IVY by Fern Michaels

September 27, 2017

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Let the Christmas novels begin! Regular readers know I love me a good Christmas story and this was a great way to start.

Ivy Macintosh lost her husband and her three-year-old twins in a plane crash. To make matters worse, her father owns the airline and the government has said it was pilot error – and her father is dating the pilot’s mother. Ivy has locked herself away in her house for eight years since the crash, drinking too much and avoiding the world.

Then one night there is a knock on her door. A little girl named Holly Greenwood is standing there, crying. She is lost, and she asks to use Ivy’s phone. Ivy’s heart goes out to her, and when Holly’s father picks her up, he is rather gruff and takes her home.

Holly has a gift; she is a singer with a most unusual and beautiful voice. But her father hates music, won’t allow it in the house and definitely doesn’t want to hear her singing. Holly doesn’t know why because since her mother died eight years earlier, it’s just been her and her father Daniel. He is super strict and she is at the age where she is starting to hate him for it.

Ivy and Daniel feel a strong attraction to each other, a first for both of them in many years. As Ivy is drawn into their world, she stops drinking and finds a new purpose in life – getting Daniel to allow Holly to share her gift with the world, and finding her own happiness along the way.

Even though I could see where this story was going from almost the beginning, it didn’t detract from seeing the resolution through. This was everything a good Christmas story should be, at least for me; a sweet love story, personal redemption, a Christmas miracle along the way and the requisite happy ending.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

HOLLY AND IVY by Fern Michaels. Kensington (September 26, 2017). ISBN 978-1496703170.  320p.

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DON’T LET GO by Harlan Coben

September 26, 2017

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Harlan Coben has written more than 20 successful novels since he burst upon the literary scene several years ago. His books have consistently been at the top of the best seller lists and Don’t Let Go certainly looks like a continuation of his previous successes.

Napoleon (Nap) Dumas is a detective with a suburban New Jersey Police department and is considered one of the best and brightest by his peers. But he has not been the same since his senior year in high school when his twin brother and his brother’s girlfriend were killed when run over by a train.  His love Maura broke up with him at the same time and disappeared from the town he was living in. Nap has been looking for answers about his brother’s death and Maura’s disappearance for the fifteen years since these events occurred.

Suddenly, apparently out of the blue, the investigation of an automobile in which a murder occurred turn up with Maura’s fingerprints in several places. This opens up Nap’s investigation  about the horrific events of his high school days: the deaths of his brother and brother’s girlfriend and the unexplained disappearance of Maura.

Coben creates a finely constructed novel involving the situation in which events of the past arise influencing a crisis for people that were involved in the doings of yesteryear. He moves us from the investigation of the murder into a possible US government cover up of CIA activities during and after the time of Nap’s high school days. The thoughts and emotions of several people are described quite well as the story moves forward in answering the questions posed. The solution is not broadcast in the novel and when presented might be considered more than a little pat, but the arrival and the action is certainly good Harlan Coben fare.

If Nap will figure in future novels is certainly within the realm of possibility, but as a stand alone Don’t Let Go is a well done, carefully crafted book and guaranteed to be the cause of the reader’s staying up late to finish it.

9/17 Paul Lane

DON’T LET GO by Harlan Coben. Dutton (September 26, 2017).  ISBN 978-0525955115. 368p.

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BREAKAWAY by Kelly Jamieson

September 25, 2017

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Heller Brothers Hockey, Book 1

I recently read and reviewed Dancing in the Rain by this author, so when BookBub had an offer for this book for free on my Kindle, I grabbed it. And I was very glad I did.

I recently learned that sports romances are a subgenre of the whole romance thing, which I like a lot. I feel like I am always learning about romance books since I haven’t been reading them that long. Susan Elizabeth Phillips has a series based around football players, and Jamieson has hockey. I’ve also learned that Jase is a very popular in contemporary romance.

This Jase is a hockey player with a fictional Chicago professional hockey team. He has several brothers who also play and they are from Canada.

Remi is a teacher who lost her parents as a young woman, and basically raised her younger siblings. The youngest has just moved out and her friends think she should go out clubbing, find a guy and live a little. She’s not sure about all that, but she agrees to go. While at the club, she escapes a few creeps and meets Jase when she asks him to do her a favor. She’s not really his type but all she wants is to talk for a few minutes so everyone else will leave her alone.

The next thing you know, they are back at her place and she is having major fun, and so is he. He promises he’ll call but a few days later, Remi is in her classroom waiting for the hockey stars who agreed to help with the after school remedial reading program. Of course Jase is one of them. Remi knows nothing about hockey but her students do, and she really cares about them. On the other hand, Jase had a lot of trouble in school and really hates teachers, so he is over Remi in a heartbeat.

Of course working together for several weeks keeps throwing them together and they start seeing each other, just for fun. But fun eventually turns to love, but not before they have to overcome some obstacles along the way.

This was a fun, sexy read and I will be looking for more from this author. These appear to be self published, but I’d bet there was a professional editor involved with Jamieson’s books – they are too good.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BREAKAWAY by Kelly Jamieson. Kelly Jamieson; 2 edition (April 24, 2015). ISBN 978-0991853274.  234p.

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THE BAD LUCK BRIDE by Janna MacGregor

September 24, 2017

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The Cavensham Heiresses, Book 1

I heard about this debut novel on Twitter from Eloisa James, one of my favorite authors. So I bought the ebook and thanked her – it’s a terrific read.

Lady Claire is cursed. She’s been engaged four times, and hasn’t made it to the altar yet. The gossip about her is widespread and damning.

Lord Alexander Hallworth, the Marquess of Pembrooke, has a sworn enemy in Lord Paul, Lady Claire’s latest fiancé. When he sends her a note, breaking off their engagement, Pembrooke is there to break her fall from grace. He offers for her hand, and feels that he has finally gotten his revenge. Of course Claire knows nothing about any of this – yet. But she will, and it will get ugly.

This was a fun read with interesting characters and an unusual plot line. The next book in the series is The Bride Who Got Lucky, and comes out Oct. 31. I’ve already read it (I couldn’t wait!) and it’s terrific. I will be posting a review around the publication date.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE BAD LUCK BRIDE by Janna MacGregor. St. Martin’s Paperbacks (May 2, 2017). ISBN 978-1250116123.  351p.

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RUSH by Maya Banks

September 23, 2017

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Breathless Trilogy, Book 1

Because of the bad review I gave Dirty Little Secret, I decided to read another book in that genre just to see if it was me, my mindset, or the book. I’m happy (sort of) to report it was the book. Rush is a fun read.

Another 50 Shades of Grey readalike, this book has main characters that are fairly well defined and feel like actual people more than just stereotypes. No sirs, no pets, but still BDSM in all of its sexy glory. If you like that sort of thing, and I do when it is done well.

Gabe Hamilton has had a major crush on Mia for years, but she’s his best friend’s baby sister, fourteen years his junior. When she was 16, that was a problem but now that she’s 24, it doesn’t seem so insurmountable anymore. When Mia arrives at a work party looking for her brother, he is nowhere to be found but Gabe dances with her and gets her home safely – after ordering her to be in his office the following Monday morning.

He offers her a job as his personal assistant, but there is a catch – he has her sign a contract basically making her his sex slave. She has a major crush on him, so she goes for it but they both decide her brother can’t know anything about that part of their relationship. Of course, all good ideas go asunder, or what would be the point.

This is an erotic romance with the requisite happily ever after and it was a good read. My faith in erotica is now restored.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

RUSH by Maya Banks. Berkley; 1 edition (February 5, 2013). ISBN 978-0425267042.  416p.

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DIRTY LITTLE SECRET by Kendall Ryan

September 22, 2017

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Forbidden Desires, Book 1

I don’t read a lot of self-published books, primarily because they generally aren’t edited properly, and this book just reinforces that.

I was stuck at home for several days because of Hurricane Irma, and I had gotten an advance copy and it was on my Kindle so I read it. The best thing I can say about it was it was a quick read.

I didn’t like the characters, I didn’t understand them and they felt entirely two-dimensional to me. The main character is Gavin, who owns an escort service with his brothers, and Emma, a librarian. Of course.  I didn’t even like the sex scenes much, they just felt trite and so done already. Like when the dominant calls the librarian, “Pet.” Yech.

It ends in the middle of the story, the better to get you to buy the next book in the series I suppose, but I didn’t care enough about any of it to look for more.

Ryan has hopped on the 50 Shades of Grey/E.L. James bandwagon, and apparently there just aren’t enough of these books to satisfy demand. To be fair, this book has 4.5 stars on Amazon and other review sites.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

DIRTY LITTLE SECRET by Kendall Ryan. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (September 14, 2017). ISBN 978-1548139148.  354p.

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BREATHING ROOM by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

September 21, 2017

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Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my favorite contemporary romance writers, and I thought I had read all of her books. I was wrong, somehow I missed this one.

This is a standalone, set mostly in Tuscany so I was all over that. Isabel Favor is a world famous psychologist with a huge following. She has bestselling books, TV deals, and a perfect life, including her fiancé. Perfect, that is, until he dumps her for another woman and her accountant embezzles all her money and flees the country, leaving her with a whopping multi-million dollar IRS debt, and those boys don’t play. She sells everything she owns to pay her back taxes, and then she flees the country, going to Italy to lick her wounds and reinvent herself.

While in Rome, she is at a cafe and sees a very good looking man who seems to be watching her. He makes his way over to her and she decides to try something she’s never done before; have a one night stand with a stranger. Isabel is more of a fall-in-love-then-have-sex kind of woman, so this is way outside her comfort zone. The sex isn’t great, and in the process, she convinces herself that this man must be a gigolo. She throws some money on the bed and takes off.

Isabel got a two month rental of a Tuscan farm house through a friend, but when she gets there they try and tell her she can’t stay, she needs to move into town. But this is the calming paradise she has been seeking and she refuses to move. She marches herself up to the villa at the top of the hill where the owner resides. Much to her surprise, the owner is a famous actor – and the man she had the one night stand with while he was in disguise.

She stays, he thinks she is a stalker, and something weird is going on with the farm help. Eventually, they form a friendship and then decide to become lovers, but to keep it to a physical relationship only. As any romance reader knows, that idea never works out and they fall in love, but both are too hell bent on keeping it casual that they almost lose each other – almost being the key word here.

This was another wonderful read from Phillips. It’s only $5 if you buy the Kindle version so if you are looking for a sure bet, this one is highly recommended..

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BREATHING ROOM by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Avon; Reprint edition (April 29, 2003).  ISBN 978-0061032097.  400p.

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