THE DUCHESS DEAL by Tessa Dare

August 23, 2017

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Girl Meets Duke, Book 1

Tessa Dare is one of my favorite romance writers, and this is the first book of a terrific new series. It’s already gotten a ton of publicity; it’s one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Buzz Books of Romance for 2017 and an Amazon Best Romance of August 2017 – and I agree.

The Duke of Ashbury has returned from the war badly damaged from a rocket blowing up near him. He almost died and has severe scarring on half of his body and face. The fiancée he returned to is repulsed by him and breaks their engagement. But he has a duty to produce an heir and needs to find a wife.

When the seamstress who made his fiancée’s wedding gown shows up at his home demanding payment for the dress – which she is wearing, and it’s hideous – he asks her a few questions about herself. Turns out Emma Gladstone is the daughter of a vicar and is unmarried, and the duke proposes on the spot. She thinks he’s playing games with her but quickly finds out he is serious, and they marry.

The Duke tells her all she has to do is get pregnant as quickly as possible, then he will give her a house in the country for her own. There she will raise their son and he won’t bother her again. Except she is strongly attracted to the Duke, but he is so damaged, both mentally and physically, he doesn’t believe it or even want to believe it.

They reach their happily ever after but only after some really hot love scenes – several of them, in fact. Dare is known for her explicit sex scenes and she really does a great job here, something lesser writers fumble with. These are fully realized characters as well, and you can’t help rooting for them along with their household staff who are plotting to get them to fall in love.

If you’re a Tessa Dare fan, you will be happy with this new series opener and if you’re unfamiliar with this writer, you might want to become better acquainted. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE DUCHESS DEAL by Tessa Dare. Pamela Dorman Books (August 15, 2017).  ISBN 978-0735223493. 352p.

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MAP OF THE HEART by Susan Wiggs

August 22, 2017

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This is a compelling read about families, heartbreak, World War II, secrets, bullying, but mostly love.

Camille Adams lives in a small seaside town in Delaware with her teenage daughter. Camille was widowed five years earlier when her husband died in a tragic accident, and really hasn’t gotten over it. She has become an obsessive worrier, sheltering her daughter to the point where she has to rebel and she does with almost devastating results.

Professor Malcolm Finnemore, Finn to everyone, studies old photographs and other evidence trying to find missing soldiers to return their remains home. His searches were sparked by his own father, whom he never met. His father was one of the many missing in action in Vietnam, and Finn has spent his life searching for him.

Camille is a photographer, but more than that, she can develop old film, often thought to be damaged beyond repair. When Finn sends her the last roll of film his father ever took, she accidentally ruins it when she has to rush to the emergency room for her daughter. He storms to her house and confronts her, and she feels terrible – they both do. A few hours later, he is back. Their attraction to one another is strong, and he asks for a do-over but he is returning to teach in the south of France, and she doesn’t want to get involved with anyone. But…

In another plot line, Camille’s father is from the south of France. He doesn’t discuss his childhood much other than it wasn’t always pleasant. Due to a series of events, he finally admits to her that his father was a Nazi sympathizer who was killed, and as a result, he was bullied until he left the small village. The story eventually moves back to the 1940’s and what happened in that village, and as they say, the plot thickens!

This was a very compelling read on both story lines. Wiggs excels at weaving a World War II story into a contemporary one. She did it beautifully in The Apple Orchard and The Beekeeper’s Ball, both excellent reads – as is this one. I loved it.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

MAP OF THE HEART by Susan Wiggs. William Morrow (August 22, 2017).  ISBN 978-0062425485. 368p.

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HOW TO FIND LOVE IN A BOOKSHOP by Veronica Henry

August 19, 2017

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Julius Nightingale met the love of his life in Paris. She was an American, he was English, theirs was a quick, intense relationship. And then she got pregnant. Her family disowned her, and when she died in childbirth, they wanted nothing to do with her daughter. So Julius became a single father.

Julius opened a bookshop in a small, quiet town and lived above it with his daughter, Emilia. H truly loved books and helping people find books, and was soon beloved in the town. Emilia grew up in the bookstore, an avid reader, and when her father died, much too young, she decided to keep the bookstore going in his honor.

This small town had several interesting characters, and there were several subplots revolving around them, with the bookstore at their center. Sarah, who owned the largest estate in town and was unhappily married. Her daughter, who was planning her wedding. Their gardener, who was secretly in love with the daughter. Marlowe, a violinist who played in a quartet with her father, and his girlfriend. The cheesemonger, who has a bit of a crush on the high school cooking teacher. And more, all charming, all with their own stories.

Unfortunately, Julius was a wonderful bookseller but not a wonderful businessman. In another subplot, the business was in financial jeopardy, the building in need of serious repairs and updating. A slimy businessman in town who wants to buy the bookshop for its parking lot offers a solution, but Emilia’s father had repeatedly turned him down. A young mother offers marketing and design help.

This story weaves many threads into a beautiful and strong fabric. I loved these characters but I think there were too many to do them all justice. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book. Yes, I’m a sucker for any story revolving around a bookstore (or library) – occupational hazard, mea culpa. Enjoy it anyway. Once again Pamela Dorman comes through – I love her imprint.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

HOW TO FIND LOVE IN A BOOKSHOP by Veronica Henry. Pamela Dorman Books (August 15, 2017).  ISBN 978-0735223493. 352p.

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THE DARE AND THE DOCTOR by Kate Noble

August 17, 2017

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Winner Takes All, Book 3

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, so I was sorry to see I missed this one when it came out late last year, but I’m happy I found it now.

Margaret Babcock is an only child and heir to her father’s fortune, but she is not your typical young woman. She has no real interest in men or dating; rather she is a botanist and gardener, working day and night in her conservatory in her mother’s memory. She has an ongoing correspondence with Dr. Rhys Gray, a physician who understands and appreciates her work, as she does his.

When she reports to him that she has bred a new rose that can repeatedly bloom in England’s crazy climate, he contacts the Royal Horticultural Society on her behalf, and she is extended an invitation to bring her roses to London. Women are not allowed to join the society or attend their meetings, but they will come to her to see the roses.

Margaret stays with family friends and they turn over their conservatory for her use. While in London, a young woman befriends her, but it turns out that she is the intended for one Dr. Rhys Gray. Margaret insists they are just friends, but as they spend time together they both soon realize that they have much deeper feelings for one another than just friendship.

Rhys’s family situation dictates that he marry his intended, and it seems he has no way out of his familial obligation. But this is a romance and true love will win out. This is a fairly chaste romance but a very enjoyable read.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE DARE AND THE DOCTOR by Kate Noble. Pocket Books (November 22, 2016). ISBN: 978-1476749402. 384p.

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THE GOOD DAUGHTER by Karin Slaughter

August 16, 2017

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Most review copies I receive these days are digital, and I never thought I’d say this but I actually prefer it. Particularly because I don’t need to wear my glasses, but also because I don’t need a light on, and if I don’t care for something or I’m not in the mood for what I am reading I can easily switch to another book. It was not that long ago when a receptionist at a doctor’s office inquired why I was carrying two books and I had to explain that I only had a chapter left in one and would probably need the other before I saw the doctor. I know she thought I was crazy, and I didn’t really care, but two hardcovers are especially annoying to carry around. I usually have several books going at once, and to be able to carry them all around with me so easily (thank you, Kindle Paperwhite!) is truly a joy.

I tell you all this because I made the mistake of putting aside a pretty good book (that was women’s fiction) because I was in the mood for something grittier. The problem was that it was 9:00 at night, and this – The Good Daughter – was the book I picked up. Almost immediately I realized the error of my ways, this book was too good to put down and it was going to be a very late night, with an early morning at work to follow. Eventually, I had to go to sleep but I finished it the next day, spending every break and my lunch hour to do so. This is a standalone but also set in Georgia like Slaughter’s terrific Grant County/Will Trent series.

Charlotte and Samantha Quinn are sisters living out in the country in rural Georgia. Their father is a lawyer, a defense lawyer to be more precise, who repeatedly vexes the townsfolk by defending, well, criminals. And usually getting them off. To the point where two armed men come to their home one day to kill him – but he’s not there. Instead, they kill his wife and take the girls out into the woods. One is shot and buried, the other takes off running but is attacked by one of the men. That is all the story we get as the book opens, and then it is 28 years later.

The girls are both alive, both lawyers, but estranged. Charlie is working in her father’s practice, Sam is a patent lawyer in New York City. Then tragedy once again rears its ugly head in this small town, this time a school shooting. And Charlie is there.

As that story unfurls, so does the girls past and we get more details, a bit at a time. The stories are intertwined, but we don’t learn how for quite a while and the tension keeps growing. This is suspense at its best, with characters we care about and a complex storyline that is truly gripping. The violence is brutal; as Slaughter fans know, she holds nothing back. But never is it gratuitous, either.

This is an excellent read and one of my favorite thrillers this year for sure. Don’t miss it!

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE GOOD DAUGHTER by Karin Slaughter. William Morrow (August 8, 2017).  ISBN 978-0062430243. 528p.

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EXPOSED by Lisa Scottoline

August 15, 2017

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A Rosato & DiNunzio Novel, Book 5

I always look forward to a new Scottoline book, especially this series, and the reward is inevitably worth the wait.

This book has a very interesting premise at its heart, an ethics question. Can a partner in a law firm represent someone in a civil suit against another client of the same firm? This dilemma pits Mary against Bennie, and it looks like the partnership may not survive it.

Most of Mary’s clients are from South Philly, where her family lives. They are all so close, even friends feel like family so when Simon gets fired from his job, he goes to Mary for help. His daughter is suffering from leukemia and needs a marrow transplant. The company where he works is self-insured, and his boss keeps making comments about the medical costs. When his sales territory is cut and he misses his quota, he is summarily fired.

The parent company is one of Bennie’s oldest clients, and she doesn’t want Mary to take the case. But Mary can’t see how she can say no to this man she has known all her life, especially when she knows she has the company dead to rights.

It turns out there is more to the story than originally thought. When Simon’s boss is murdered, he is the prime suspect and Mary and Bennie end up working together to help him. There are a lot of twists to this story that really keep the pages turning, especially when Mary & Bennie get too close to solving the murder and have to fight for their lives.

I love the direction that Bennie is moving in – her personal growth is tremendous in this story. This was a one night read for me and now I have to wait another year for the next book in this series, but I comfort myself because it is totally worth the wait! Another excellent addition to the series.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

EXPOSED by Lisa Scottoline.  St. Martin’s Press (August 15, 2017).  ISBN 978-1250099716. 352p.

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THE ALMOST SISTERS by Joshilyn Jackson

August 10, 2017

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If you are not familiar with Joshilyn Jackson, you should be. She writes Southern stories with a touch of mystery and memorable characters, and this book is terrific.

Leia Birch Briggs is an author – she wrote a graphic novel that was a mega success and went on to write for many of the superhero series. At comic book conventions, she is a superhero herself, but her family doesn’t get it, they think she is barely scraping by with her doodles.

At one such convention, Leia has a bit too much tequila and goes back to the hotel with Batman – a black, good looking Batman. A few months later she finds out she is pregnant, and she doesn’t even know the father’s name.

Before she can tell her family or do anything about it, she receives word that her grandmother, who she is very close to, has apparently lost her mind. She immediately heads down south, with her niece in tow. Her almost perfect stepsister is in the middle of a knock down, drag out fight with her husband, and needs some time alone.

Turns out grandma Birchie, as she is best known, does have an illness but her closest friend, daughter of the black maid that raised her, has been taking care of her. The two of them are over 90 years old, so it is a bit of the blind leading the blind, but they have been managing, until now.

When the two old ladies talk their neighbor into moving a trunk out of the attic and into Leia’s car and they try to steal said car before crashing it, all hell breaks loose. There is a skeleton in the trunk, and the cops are investigating.

This is a story about racism and family and love and Dixie. The characters are all well developed, interesting and real and I was so sorry this story had to end. It is at times, laugh out loud funny and often touching. The process of creating a graphic novel is fascinating, too, adding another dimension to this story. That aspect put me in mind of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, but that was a book for young adults, and this book ultimately has more depth. If you are new to this author, try it, and if you are a fan, you will love it.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE ALMOST SISTERS by Joshilyn Jackson . William Morrow; First Edition edition (July 11, 2017).  ISBN 978-0062105714.  352p.

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THE SCANDAL OF IT ALL by Sophie Jordan

August 9, 2017

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 The Rogue Files, Book 2

I know I’ve read at least some of the books in this series, but I don’t remember any of them being this hot. Smoldering hot!

Graciela, the Duchess of Autenberry, is originally from Spain and has been widowed for a long while. The marriage was abusive but for the children’s sake, she has kept alive the fairytale version. The ton never really accepted her as one of their own due to her Spanish background, and her dark, sultry looks don’t help.

When Graciela’s closest friend tells her about a club where she can find a lover, she is tempted. It has been a very long time since her husband died. So she goes, but to her horror, her stepson and his best friend, Lord Strickland, are there.

Mortified, she tries to hide but Strickland finds her. He has always been drawn to her but their relationship and their age difference doesn’t work. Strickland helps her hide from her stepson, but takes advantage of her – until he has her begging for more. They become lovers, despite her reservations about their age difference, but circumstances conspire to leading them down a different path.

I like Sophie Jordan’s books, and if you enjoy historical romances that pretty much cross over to erotica, this is the book for you.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE SCANDAL OF IT ALL by Sophie Jordan. Avon (July 25, 2017). ISBN: 978-0062463623. 384p.

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ANY DREAM WILL DO by Debbie Macomber

August 8, 2017

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I’ve been reading Macomber for years, and I’ve really enjoyed her Cabot Cove and Blossom Street series and especially her Christmas stories. Her books are all sweet, escapist reading with an occasional kiss but never any sex. I’ve met her a couple of times, and I get her newsletter, and I know that she is a Christian, and all of her books reflect her values.

To me, this book crosses the line from women’s fiction and/or romance, which she has been writing throughout her career, to Christian (or “Inspirational”) fiction. As a Jew, I am not always comfortable with that genre and I was not comfortable with this book.

The premise is that a young woman, Shay, has grown up in an abusive home. She turned to drugs at an early age, and her boyfriend was a drug dealing, violent abuser. But Shay never liked drugs so although she lived in that world, she didn’t really use, but her brother did. She got a job as a bank teller and her brother talked her into embezzling money for him, saying that her boyfriend would kill him otherwise. She does it and goes to prison for three years.

I’m not giving away anything here, all of this occurs in the first twenty pages or so. When Shay is released, the bus lets her off in front of a church. She goes in, and the pastor, Drew, offers to help her. He gets her into a reentry program where she excels.

Drew lost his wife a few years earlier, leaving him with two young children. He is doing the best he can but he is suffering from depression. Helping Shay helps him, as well. Their connection keeps leading them back to one another and while there are difficulties in their relationship along the way, they eventually find their happily ever after.

Much of this story really stretched the bounds of credibility, but I liked the characters enough to keep reading. The bigger issue here for me was all the praying going on, and a lot of “God’s plan” filling in the story, along with the political machinations of the church, which just made it too Christian for this Jew. I hope Macomber goes back to her heathen ways and leaves the praying for her personal life instead of injecting it into her books. I will be leery of reading this author again.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

ANY DREAM WILL DO by Debbie Macomber. Ballantine Books (August 8, 2017). ISBN 978-0399181191.  336p.

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CLASS MOM by Laurie Gelman

August 6, 2017

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Anyone who’s ever been a class room mother or even a PTA volunteer will easily identify with the hell these women go through. But here Gelman brandishes humor like a weapon, (ok, more like a Nerf gun,) gently making fun of all the archetype parents we’ve come to know and love this century – the lesbian moms, the helicopter parents, the mom with the highly allergic child, and so forth. If you are looking for an escape, a light read that is pure fun, you have come to the right book.

I was never the class mom, but I often volunteered, chaperoned field trips, was secretary of the PTSA when my son was in middle school, was team mom for Little League and softball and basketball, etc. Plus my kids are almost eight years apart in age, so I got to do it all over again with my daughter. So let’s just say I really related here.

Jen Dixon is not your typical kindergarten mom; for one thing, she already has two kids in college. When her best friend, also the president of the PTA, recruits her to be class mom, she rebels, then acquiesces, leading to a lot of really snarky,  funny emails sent to the class.

There are moms who do not appreciate the snark and a coup is attempted. Another of the class parents is Don, Jen’s high school crush, a single dad who she starts a flirty text relationship with. You know that is going to blow up in her face but it’s so much fun getting there. Jen and all her family drama justs makes us root for her all the harder.

Laurie Gelman is married to Michael Gelman, and if that name sounds familiar it’s because he’s the long time producer of “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” “Live with Kelly and Michael,” and actually goes back to the Regis & Kathy Lee days of the show (I actually heard about this book when she was on Live recently.) Gelman really captured this lovely suburban community well in her debut, plus I always love a good epistolary novel – the emails and texts bring it home. Nepotism aside, this was an afternoon read for me, and it truly did make me laugh out loud.

8/17 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

CLASS MOM by Laurie Gelman. Henry Holt and Co. (August 1, 2017).  ISBN 978-1250124692.  304p.

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