NO ONE BUT YOU by Brenda Novak

September 7, 2017

Click to purchase

Silver Springs, Book 2

I haven’t read Novak for a while and I’m not sure why, I really like her books. Strictly speaking, this is a romance with its happily ever after, but it’s really more romantic suspense, with a heavy emphasis on suspense –  a real page turner. This is truly a case of “don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Sadie Harris is trying to finalize her divorce from Sly, but he wants her back and will stop at nothing to get her back. But the only reason he is after her is because she doesn’t want him, and his pride can’t handle that. They have a five-year-old son who is not the rough and tumble boy Sly would prefer, so he pretty much ignores him or insults him. Luckily, he doesn’t want to spend much time with the boy.

Sadie is struggling to make it on her own. She’s waitressing part-time and renting a tiny one bedroom guest house from a friend. She needs a full-time job to truly be able to provide for her son and she finds one as a housekeeper/caregiver for Dalton Reed. Dalton is the town pariah, acquitted of murdering his adoptive parents but the small town of Silver Springs still believes he did it. He spent a year in jail before his acquittal, and his house was vandalized and his mentally challenged sister put into government care. He wants to bring her home but has to get the house livable and the farm it sits on fully functioning before the state will allow that.

Sadie is scared of Dalton, but needs the job. She quickly realizes that this quiet, very good looking young man is a kind and good person. But Sly – a cop – is infuriated that she is working for a murderer, and starts creating trouble for both of them. When her small cottage is set on fire, Sadie suspects Sly but can’t prove it. Instead of moving back home with Sly, Dalton invites her to stay with him, adding more trouble to the Harris divorce.

Sly is apparently on steroids, which is not helping his situation, and while the brothers in blue stick up for him, his captain is slowly realizing that something is really off. Meanwhile, Sadie and Dalton are falling in love, and he loves her little boy, too. But Sly is a major hindrance to this romance until almost the very last page.

I really enjoyed this read, and the next Silver Springs book is already out: Until You Loved Me. The first book in the series was a Harlequin Special Edition paperback, Finding Our Forever, which is available as an e-book and already on my Kindle.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

NO ONE BUT YOU by Brenda Novak. MIRA (May 30, 2017).  ISBN 978-0778330615. 384p.

Kindle

Audible

Comments Off on NO ONE BUT YOU by Brenda Novak | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

DINNER AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH by Nathan Englander

September 6, 2017

Click to purchase

Englander gives us a novel that describes the ambiguity of the Arab-Israeli conflict via a series of contacts between members representing the two sides.  First, there is the General who has led attacks and wars against Arabs living in territory next to Israel. He is merciless, brilliant and has little guilt about the effects his actions protecting his country cause. He is a beloved figure and we meet him as he lays dying in an Israeli hospital.

Next is the man that the General imprisoned years ago in a secret cell.  No one except the General and the man guarding the prisoner knows where he is kept and why he is there.

There is a meeting and a short love affair between a character known as Z and a waitress. The waitress is actually a rich woman who says she does service work to retain her identity. She takes Z to meet her father in Italy but it is in reality to take him

A love affair develops between an Israeli woman who is a resident of a kibbutz and a Palestinian constantly mapping out Israeli territory in order to present his maps to his Hamas colleagues for use in an attack against the Jewish state. The two decide that they want to experience a dinner date but find that the only place they can have it would be in one of the tunnels dug by Hamas. These, of course, are to be used to invade Israeli at the proper time.

Each of the short vignettes used by Englander in the book illustrates the conflict between Israel and its neighbors. Both sides have a point; fight for their point, and refuse to recognize that the other side also has a point which could lead to settlement if everybody would give in a little.

The author is not presenting any other argument other than that the conflict that has gone on for years could be settled if both sides listened to the other and tried to get a solution based on discussion and coming onto common ground.   Very well done and certainly an argument for reason instead of conflict as the only answer to this grave conflict.

9/17 Paul Lane

DINNER AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH by Nathan Englander.  Knopf; First Edition edition (September 5, 2017).  ISBN 978-1524732738.  272p.

Kindle

 

Comments Off on DINNER AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH by Nathan Englander | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

Y IS FOR YESTERDAY by Sue Grafton

September 4, 2017

A Kinsey Millhone Novel, Book 25

In 1979, a local private school became the site of an academic scandal that turned into murder. Two students were kicked out for cheating and a third, blamed for tattling, was shunned and then killed. Of the boys involved in the crime, only two actually served time­—one escaped and the other was given immunity for testifying. But the case had another twist to it: rumor has it the murder wasn’t over the cheating scandal at all, but a tape the girl was said to have stolen. A tape that was never recovered in the investigation.

Ten years later, the two boys who served time for the crime have been released and the parents of one have called Kinsey. It seems the rumored tape is not only real, it’s being used for blackmail and the parents want Kinsey to find out who is behind it all.

Kinsey’s latest case is something of a pain in the ass. A group of rather well to do (for the most part) teens gets caught up in a cheating scandal that goes south when one of the teens, gun in hand, accidentally kills a classmate. Ten years later, that teen is now a young man, newly released from his time served. But his parents are concerned that he’ll be arrested again when a sex tape from those same high school surfaces.

Everyone involved in making the film claims it was a lark, a joke with outtakes that show the kids laughing and goofing off. But the only actual evidence that seems to remain is the one tape, and there’s no question that it would lead to another trial. The biggest mystery isn’t just who is behind the blackmail, but where the video has been all this time. As Kinsey investigates answers are few and far between, though.

There are a few subplots. First, Kinsey has a stalker who’s returned from a previous case. Then there’s drama in the neighborhood as well, including Henry’s new houseguests, all of which commands some of Kinsey’s time and attention. But, as per usual, never causes her to lose her wits or cool.

I adore this series and I have loved each and every installment. Y is for Yesterday is no exception. Kinsey has grown so much over the course of the series and has learned a lot about herself and her family. Grafton has built a strong support system of characters around Kinsey as well, making each new book a welcome return not only to the PI we all know and love, but to Henry, Cheney, Rosie, and newer additions like Anna as well.

I can’t stress enough just how much I’ll hate saying goodbye to this series. I’ve been reading alongside Kinsey  and her cases for almost two decades now and I’ve loved each and every entry. With Y, there’s now just one more book to go.

9/17 Becky LeJeune

Y IS FOR YESTERDAY by Sue Grafton. Marian Wood Books/Putnam (August 22, 2017).  ISBN 978-0399163852. 496p.

Kindle

Comments Off on Y IS FOR YESTERDAY by Sue Grafton | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

HOLIDAY IN THE HAMPTONS by Sarah Morgan

September 3, 2017

Click to purchase

From Manhattan with Love, Book 5

This is one of my favorite series and I have enjoyed every one of these books. They have all been set in Manhattan but this one moves out to the Hamptons, summer playground of many city dwellers. And if you’re a dog lover, this is a must read!

Fliss and Harriet are identical twins who own a dog walking business in the city. Their business has grown tremendously since Urban Genie, the concierge service owned by the women who starred in the first three books in the series, started recommending them to their clients. The twins had a difficult childhood with a verbally abusive father, and Harriet was a stutterer as a child and Fliss her protector. As adults, Fliss still feels protective over her 3-minute-younger sister.

Fliss was briefly married to Seth Carlyle ten years earlier, and that marriage ended only a few months in. We don’t find out why for quite a while and that journey is at times heart wrenching and funny. When Fliss sees Seth at the vet’s office, she freaks out and when her grandmother suffers a fall, she offers to go out to the Hamptons to take care of her, escaping her ex. Except when she gets out there, she immediately runs into Seth. She freaks out and lies, telling him that she is Harriet. Turns out he was just helping out a friend in the city for a few days, but his practice is really out on Long Island.

Gradually he convinces her to meet with him and talk, but Fliss is used to keeping everything inside, and it is almost impossible for her to overcome all her baggage and open up to him – or to her twin. She grows closer to her grandmother, learns more about the family dynamics that play into her psyche, and eventually finds her happily ever after.

I loved this book. If you haven’t read the others in the series, it is not necessary to read them first. But if you enjoy this one as much as I did, please go back and read them in order. To be honest, I am very tempted to go back and read them all again, and that is not something I say lightly. In order:

1. Sleepless in Manhattan
2. Sunset in Central Park
3. Miracle on 5th Avenue
4. New York, Actually

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

HOLIDAY IN THE HAMPTONS by Sarah Morgan. HQN Books (August 29, 2017). ISBN 978-0373803996. 416p.

Kindle

Comments Off on HOLIDAY IN THE HAMPTONS by Sarah Morgan | Book Reviews, Fiction, Women's Fiction | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

YOUNGER by Pamela Redmond Satran

September 2, 2017

Click to purchase

Pamela Redmond Satran was most well known for her baby name books, written with Linda Rosenkrantz and are “acknowledged to have revolutionized American baby naming.” Which I think is true, but Satran also wrote several chick-lit books back in the day and I loved them, but somehow I missed this one.

I only read this because of the TV show, which I found because I love the Gilmore Girls and watched the re-boot on Netflix. One of the episodes, “Summer,” featured a musical play starring Sutton Foster, who was fabulous. This led me to watching “Bunheads”, a cult favorite from the same creative team as the Gilmore Girls that only lasted one season. I loved that, so when I heard that Sutton Foster was currently starring in “Younger,” I binge watched the first three seasons of that on Hulu, and I’m now caught up in the fourth. During that binge, I noticed it was based on a book and after this very long (probably too long, sorry!) explanation, here I am.

So if you are familiar with the TV show, here’s what you need to know. There have been many name changes, starting with Liza, who is Alice in the book, Kelsey was Lindsey, Diana was Teri, and well, you get the idea. Charles is a woman in the book so no romance there. Josh is still Josh, only he’s a video game designer instead of a tattoo artist. And the book ends way sooner and without half as much drama or fun as the TV series. All that said, it was still fun to read the inspiration behind the series.

If you are not familiar, here’s the plot. Alice has been a stay at home mom whose daughter has now left college for the Peace Corps and her husband, a dentist, has left her for his much younger dental hygienist. Trying to find a job in publishing, where she worked for a few months before a difficult pregnancy, proves much harder than expected. Alice’s best friend Maggie lives in New York City and offers some advice and a place to stay while she’s looking for a job in publishing. Her advice is to do a makeover on Alice, buy her new clothes and prove to her that she can pass for a twenty-something instead of a middle aged housewife.  She does this by taking her to a bar on New Year’s Eve, where she meets and kisses Josh. He is much younger than her, but thinks she is only a few years older than he is, maybe 29? She’s really 44 but by leaving off the past decade or so from her resume, she lands a job with the same publisher she worked for before her pregnancy.

Living a lie causes all sorts of tension and working for a bitch isn’t any more fun for a pretend 29-year-old than it would be for a 44-year-old. Eventually, the truth comes out and Alice dumps Josh before he can dump her. But that wouldn’t make for a happily ever after so at the last possible second, they work it out.

I enjoyed the book and considering it was published twelve years ago, it holds up pretty well. But I have to admit I enjoy the TV show more. There are just so many more complications and plot twists over four seasons than is possible in a book of a few hundred pages.

If you love the TV show, you’ll probably enjoy the book. If you haven’t seen it, read the book then watch it. Either way you’ll have fun – I did.

9/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

YOUNGER by Pamela Redmond Satran. Gallery Books; First Edition edition (July 5, 2005).  ISBN 978-1416505587.  284p.

Kindle

 

Comments Off on YOUNGER by Pamela Redmond Satran | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

YOUNG JANE YOUNG by Gabrielle Zevin

August 31, 2017

Click to purchase

Zevin’s last novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, is one of my favorite books ever. I heard about it from the publisher who just raved and I’m so sorry to say that he is now retired (thank you, Michael Rockliff, I still miss your recommendations!) So I was pretty excited about a new book from this author. Then I saw it made the top of the Library Reads List which is always a good sign. But with all my expectations, I was bound to be disappointed and I kinda was.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a very good book. One chapter in I was recommending my library try and get the author to visit. I knew the first chapter’s name alone, “Bubbe Meise”, would be of interest to my library patrons, as would the Jewish mother and the setting of Miami Beach and Boca Raton.

So the Jewish mother has a college age daughter, Aviva Grossman, who is interning for a local congressman, who was their neighbor at one time. Aviva ends up having an affair with the congressman, gets caught and ostracized. Think Monica Lewinsky on a smaller scale. Or more likely, Donna Rice if you are old enough to remember that scandal. He, of course, survives with his job and family intact, but she cannot get a job. Such is life.

Then Aviva finds out she’s pregnant. She moves to a small town in Maine, changes her name to Jane Young, becomes a party planner, and raises her very precocious daughter Ruby herself. And when she runs for Mayor of the small town, her opponent digs up the dirt on her and Ruby figures out who she really is and who she thinks her father is.

The point of view shifts between Aviva’s mother, the congressman’s wife, young Aviva, Jane Young, and Ruby. I was not a fan of the second person voice at one point, nor of the “choose your own adventure” device that crops up that other readers seem to love. Political scandal always makes for good reading, and the perspective from the woman’s side of things is less judgmental and more realistic, especially among the various ages of the women telling the story. The family dynamics here also ring true, and the story is told with a lot of humor, which I loved.

I totally related to the mother more than the daughter, but the characters weren’t as developed as I expected. It appears that Zevin grew up here in South Florida and I would guess maybe still has family here. So while I didn’t love this book like I loved the Fikry book, it’s not really a fair comparison since that book was about a bookstore and my readers know my predilection for that setting! If you like scandal-laced, humorous family stories, (and I do,) then I highly recommend it.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

YOUNG JANE YOUNG by Gabrielle Zevin. Algonquin Books (August 22, 2017).  ISBN 978-1616205041. 320p.

Kindle

Comments Off on YOUNG JANE YOUNG by Gabrielle Zevin | Book Reviews, Fiction, Women's Fiction | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

THE CHESAPEAKE BRIDE by Mariah Stewart

August 30, 2017

Click to purchase

The Chesapeake Diaries, Book 11

UPDATE: I read this over the weekend and it was a really good read! The characters are well developed, the locale is almost another character and the story is engaging. Highly recommended.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart returns to the cherished Maryland shores of St. Dennis with THE CHESAPEAKE BRIDE (Pocket Books; August 29, 2017; $7.99), the charming story of a jaded architect who meets the one man who could finally melt her heart—if she’s willing to let him in.

Cassidy Logan has sworn off good-looking adventurers, having just divorced the one she’d married. Now working with her father’s construction company to build ecologically friendly, historically accurate homes on the Chesapeake Bay, she’s designing them for Cannonball Island. Knowing there’s been no new construction on the island in almost one hundred years, Cass is sensitive to the heritage and history of the sparsely populated island, and has come up with plans so perfect she’s determined to buy one for herself to live in. Even the fact that Owen Parker—whom she dismisses as a lightweight and a player— seems to be everywhere she goes isn’t enough to deter her from building her dream house.

Owen is and always has been sinfully handsome and wickedly clever, a magnet for mischief as well as the girls in St. Dennis. He’s also a rolling stone, going and doing whatever appeals to him, from flying a mail plane in Alaska to working on a cattle ranch in Australia and a shrimp boat in Louisiana, to surfing and diving in Costa Rica. When an old friend offers him a job salvaging a sunken ship in the Chesapeake, Owen gladly accepts. Something’s been telling him it’s about time to head home to Cannonball Island, and a job is as good an excuse as any. He’s totally smitten with the pretty architect, but it seems he’s finally met a woman who’s immune to his charms. Sooner or later, Owen will have to face the reason why he always runs, because this time, leaving just might be harder than staying.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE CHESAPEAKE BRIDE by Mariah Stewart. Pocket Books (August 29, 2017). ISBN 978-1501154355. 384p.

Kindle

GIVEAWAY:

We’re celebrating The Chesapeake Bride and Summer 2017 with one giveaway for Driftwood Point, 10th  in The Chesapeake Diaries Series by Mariah Stewart!

To win a copy of Driftwood Point by Mariah Stewart, please send an email to contest@gmail.com with “Driftwood Point” as the subject.

You must include your U.S. street address in your email.

All entries must be received by September 22, 2017 (the official last day of summer!) One (1) name will be drawn from all qualified entries and notified via email. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age in the United States only. Your books will be sent by SIMON & SCHUSTER|POCKET BOOKS.

One entry per email address. Subscribers to the monthly newsletter earn an extra entry into every contest. Follow this blog to earn another entry into every contest. Winners may win only one time per year (365 days) for contests with prizes of more than one book. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone.

Praise for Driftwood Point, Book 10 in The Chesapeake Diaries:

“This second-chance-at-love romance is gentle and sweet…The colorful friendship between the family matriarchs…charms. Stewart seamlessly checks in with former series protagonists and introduces future romantic pairings without stealing attention from Lisbeth and Alec.”

—RT Book Reviews

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mariah Stewart is the award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of numerous novels and several novellas and short stories.  A native of Hightstown, New Jersey, she lives with her husband and two rambunctious rescue dogs amid the rolling hills of Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she savors country life and tends her gardens.

Visit her website at mariahstewart.com, like her on Facebook at AuthorMariahStewart, and follow her on Instagram at mariah_stewart_books.

9 Comments | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

MONTANA HEAT: ESCAPE TO YOU by Jennifer Ryan

August 29, 2017

Click to purchase

Montana Heat, Book 2

Ashley Swan is an Oscar winning actress who goes missing, except the police refuse to get involved. They think she’s just hiding out between movies. But a year is a long time to hide, and it turns out she’s actually been kidnapped, by another celebrity, a retired and much beloved talk show host.

Ashley’s been beaten and starved for close to a year, and kept locked up in a windowless vault. Until the night the door doesn’t latch and she escapes, grabbing Adam, the little boy who is kept in a room down the hall. His mother used to work there, but has disappeared, and Adam has also been abused and Ashley won’t leave without him.

Unfortunately, she escapes in a heavy gown she was forced wear that is way too small on her, and high heels, into a Montana blizzard. She ends up having to carry Adam and really freaks out when she realizes she is being chased. But she sees a light in the distance and aims for that until she trips and falls, knocking herself out.

Trigger lives on a nearby ranch, and finds Ashley in the snow, not sure if she’s even alive. But he takes her and Adam home with him and takes care of them both through the storm. Ashley survives but he is horrified at what’s been done to the movie star and the child. Trigger is a DEA agent, recuperating from wounds earned in a bad drug bust. He is in a bad way, but helping Ashley helps him as well.

The madman is still after her but Trigger is determined to bring him to justice. This is an exciting thriller that ultimately turns into a hot romance, and an excellent read.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

MONTANA HEAT: ESCAPE TO YOU by Jennifer Ryan. Avon (August 29, 2017).  ISBN 978-0062645258. 384p.

Kindle

Comments Off on MONTANA HEAT: ESCAPE TO YOU by Jennifer Ryan | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

FITNESS JUNKIE by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza

August 25, 2017

Click to purchase

I first heard about this book from The Skimm, a daily news update I get every morning. It’s a fun way to get the news and these days I need all the fun I can get with my news. Every now and then they include a book recommendation and this one came up the other day and it sounded cute. It was.

As someone who has battled weight issues for most of my life, it was hard to take this book seriously but I was not meant to. It centers around Janey Sweet, the CEO of a high-end designer wedding gown company that doesn’t make a dress in a size larger than 4 (really.) Janey is partners with Beau, her best friend since childhood. Beau is the bitchy, gay stereotypical designer who is completely obsessed with diet and weight. He confronts Janey with a photo taken at a fashion show that shows her eating junk food. He demands she drop thirty pounds per their contract, and not return to work until she does.

Janey is devastated but turns to her girlfriends for help and moral support. Her best friend C.J. immediately takes her under her wing and they start visiting one crazy workout place after another. Janey’s cousin Ivy teaches a spin class at SoarBarre, one of the hottest places to be seen in town. Ivy has always been a kind person, but her clients at SoarBarre aren’t happy unless she is abusing them. She is in therapy for this dichotomy in her life.

But the pinnacle of workouts is something called simply, “The Workout,” started by Sara Strong in partnership with a Gwyneth Paltrow type clone. They have a falling out but the Workout lives on anyway.  It changes its secret location every month, and clients have to be invited to partake. Janey meets a woman who claims to be a shaman and she befriends Janey and invites her.

Janey misses her work, misses Beau but doesn’t miss her ex-husband at all and starts dating, a younger man who she thinks works at the juice bar and takes her dumpster diving at Whole Foods for dinner, and a wealthy, older man she meets through the shaman. The workouts get crazier and culminate in an invitation-only “retreat,” an 8 day, women only, $15,000 party in St. Lucia. Janey ends up in the hospital and learns the lesson that you are only as beautiful as you feel and it doesn’t matter what your weight is. She also figures out that her relationship with Beau isn’t what she always thought it was.

This is a book that could only be set in New York City.  The mindset of New York women who truly believe what my mother always told me, you can never be too rich or too thin, is beautifully satirized here. Some nice shots are taken at Goop and the whole idea of lifestyle ridiculousness that these women swear by. There is not much depth to the story, the only character we really get to know is Janey, but I think that was kind of the point; a shallow read about shallow people and the insanity of our fitness-crazed culture. It was a fun read, and even though I’m from New York and know women like this, it only added to my enjoyment.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

FITNESS JUNKIE by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza. Doubleday (July 11, 2017).  ISBN 978-0385541800. 304p.

Kindle

Comments Off on FITNESS JUNKIE by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza | Book Reviews, Fiction, Women's Fiction | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

SEEING RED by Sandra Brown

August 24, 2017

Click to purchase

I haven’t read a lot of Sandra Brown but I totally understand why she has such a wide audience. Seeing Red is a real page turner, with action on almost every page. Brown’s skill is evident, she keeps the pace going until it is almost but not quite exhausting – the touch of romance is an occasional break from all the goings on. I met Sandra several years ago at Thrillerfest

I met Sandra several years ago at Thrillerfest, the annual  International Thriller Writers conference. She is a charming, beautiful woman, and this is not at all the sort of book you’d think she writes if you’d met her! I must say, I really love that dichotomy. You may be able to judge a book by its cover, at times, but you can hardly ever judge an author by their appearance.

So, Kerra Bailey is a television reporter in Dallas who is gunning for the biggest story of her career. She wants an interview with the Major, a hero who saved a handful of people from a Dallas hotel that was bombed many years earlier. The Major has been in seclusion for years, but Kerra tracks down his son, Trapper, and convinces him to take her to meet his father.

Trapper is immediately drawn to the beautiful Kerra, but he knows his father isn’t going to talk to her, he barely talks to him. But to his surprise, the Major is a Kerra fan and once Kerra explains who she is, she gets her interview.

Unfortunately, the men who blew up the hotel are immediately alarmed at that the two of them are talking. An unsuccessful murder attempt on both Kerra and the Major leads to nonstop action and lots of twists, leading to the shocking ending.

This was a really fast, really fun read and a terrific thriller. Don’t miss it.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SEEING RED by Sandra Brown. Grand Central Publishing (August 15, 2017).  ISBN 978-1455572106. 432p.

Kindle

Comments Off on SEEING RED by Sandra Brown | Book Reviews, Crime Fiction, Fiction | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Stacy Alesi

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »