THE ROGUE OF FIFTH AVENUE by Joanna Shupe

June 26, 2019

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Uptown Girls, Book 1

From the publisher:

Silver-tongued lawyer.
Keeper of secrets.
Breaker of hearts.

He can solve any problem . . .

In serving the wealthy power brokers of New York society, Frank Tripp has finally gained the respectability and security his own upbringing lacked. There’s no issue he cannot fix . . . except for one: the beautiful and reckless daughter of an important client who doesn’t seem to understand the word danger.

She’s not looking for a hero . . .

Excitement lies just below Forty-Second Street and Mamie Greene is determined to explore all of it—while playing a modern-day Robin Hood along the way. What she doesn’t need is her father’s lawyer dogging her every step and threatening her efforts to help struggling families in the tenements.

However, she doesn’t count on Frank’s persistence . . . or the sparks that fly between them. When fate upends all her plans, Mamie must decide if she’s willing to risk it all on a rogue . . .

Shupe kicks off a new series in historical New York City, which is very reminiscent of London in the same time period. The wealthy live in a small enclave and the rest of the city is in dire need around them, yet completely invisible to the elites. Except for Greene girls. They are very much aware of the poverty and turmoil below 42nd Street and strive to help the families that the church turns away. They make money by gambling in places women are not allowed and that brings Frank Tripp into the picture.

Tripp is the family attorney and he is trying to help his client, the girls’s father, by protecting the daughters. But there is no stopping Mamie Greene, and Tripp greatly admires her – both her feistiness and her looks. These two are constantly verbally sparring, which adds friction to the chemistry between them. When one of Mamie’s families gets into trouble, she looks to Tripp to help them.

Tripp is hiding some secrets of his own but he agrees to help Mamie, he simply can’t say no to her. And anything that will get them to spend more time together works for both of them. So he agrees to defend a woman accused of murdering her husband. She did it, but it was self defense, but the cops don’t care about that. The victim was related to a police detective. The NYC police department is rife with corruption that goes all the way to the top. I laughed when Teddy Roosevelt comes riding in towards the end. This intrigued me so much that I looked into Teddy Roosevelt and the NYC police department and found this terrific piece from NPR.

While this is an engrossing tale, it’s the little touches of reality that really make the story shine. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

6/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE ROGUE OF FIFTH AVENUE by Joanna Shupe. Avon (May 28, 2019).  ISBN 978-0062906816. 400p.

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A NEARLY NORMAL FAMILY by M.T. Edvardsson

June 25, 2019

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This book is the story of a murder trial involving a young, eighteen-year-old girl. The author uses the technique of three narratives in telling his story.

There is the girl’s father, a Pastor and a man dedicated to the truth; her mother, a criminal defense lawyer; and of course Stella Sandell, the lady on trial. The technique, employed quite successfully by Edvardsson, is to utilize three separate sections of the novel, each dedicated to the thoughts and actions of the three people involved. Each part supplies the reader with different facts making up the plot and certainly causes many changes of opinion as the novel progresses.

Stella is a girl that certainly has her own mind and is more than a little rebellious. She is a student reaching the end of high school with the one ambition of taking a trip of several months to Asia. Important to her, and to the story, is her best friend who has been with her almost all of her short life. Amina, her friend, is the exact opposite of her, immersed in studies with the intention of becoming a doctor.

Both Stella and Amina have drifted into a relationship with a man fifteen years older than they are. Each tries to keep her role with him apart and attempting to keep the other thinking that they are not involved with him. It is this man that is killed and circumstances put the blame on Stella. She is arrested and brought to trial.

The strength of the story is the steady building up of suspense and the maintaining of the flow keeping the reader glued to the novel. While it was written in Swedish and takes place in a small city in Sweden, the translation is an excellent one allowing the nuances of the English I read it in to be quite clear. A definite five star novel and one showcasing the work of an author at the top of his game.

6/19 Paul Lane

A NEARLY NORMAL FAMILY by M.T. Edvardsson. Celadon Books (June 25, 2019). ISBN 978-1250204431. 400p.

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THE UNBREAKABLES by Lisa Barr

June 23, 2019

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From the publisher:

A delicious, sharp novel about a woman who jets off to France after her perfect marriage collapses, putting the broken pieces of herself back together while rediscovering her own joie de vivre—a lust for life, art, and steamy sex.

“Artful, feminist, and emotionally gripping. The Unbreakables is a remarkable tribute to a woman’s strength in the face of heartbreak and adversity.” — Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss Quotient

The worst birthday ever might just be the gift of a lifetime…

It’s Sophie Bloom’s forty-second birthday, and she’s ready for a night of celebration with Gabe, her longtime, devoted husband, and her two besties and their spouses. Dinner is served with a side of delicious gossip, including which North Grove residents were caught with their pants down on Ashley Madison after the secret on-line dating site for married and committed couples was hacked. Thirty-two million cheaters worldwide have been exposed…including Sophie’s “perfect” husband. To add insult to injury, she learns Gabe is the top cheater in their town.

Humiliated and directionless, Sophie jumps into the unknown and flees to France to meet up with her teenage daughter who is studying abroad and nursing her own heartbreak. After a brief visit to Paris, Sophie heads out to the artist enclave of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. There, for the first time in a long time, Sophie acknowledges her own desires—not her husband’s, not her daughter’s—and rediscovers her essence with painful honesty and humor, reawakening both her sensuality and ambitions as a sculptor.

As she sheds her past and travels the obstacle-filled off beaten path, Sophie Bloom is determined to blossom. Allowing her true self to emerge in the postcard beauty of Provence, Sophie must decide what is broken forever…and what it means to be truly unbreakable.

I don’t remember where I first heard about this book, but it kept coming up in various emails and websites with glowing reviews so I opened it. I was immediately surprised by the whole Ashley Madison plot line and thought why hasn’t anyone else written about this. It seems like a really good jumping off point for a novel and Barr took it and ran with it.

If you aren’t familiar or forgot the salacious details, Ashley Madison is a “dating” site for married people who wanted to have affairs. Yuck. But it was very successful, financially at least, until hackers broke in and started releasing lists of names of the married cheaters. You can read all about it here: Fortune and you can search the database if you really want to here: CNN helps you figure out how to do that. And of course, Wikipedia has an overview. In case you thought this huge, embarrassing data breach would cause the site to shut down, think again. Ashley Madison survived and is still going. No, I’m not linking to it. Again, yuck.

Sophie, Samantha and Lauren have been best friends since childhood and they dub themselves the unbreakables. But life has a way of laughing at such proclamations, and the damage done by the Ashley Madison scandal is immediate and devastating. This is a story of a woman who has to start over at age 42. I didn’t agree with all her choices, but I cheered her on regardless. I will say that having an unlimited stream of money seemed most helpful here so if this happens to you, plan ahead and save up for it.

I was immediately absorbed into the story and was alternately shocked, saddened, angered and inspired; sometimes, I swear, all on the same page. This definitely falls under emotional reads for me. Barr does a really good job of making the reader care about Sophie and all her life choices. This should make good fodder for book groups.

6/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE UNBREAKABLES by Lisa Barr. Harper Paperbacks (June 4, 2019). ISBN  978-0062895394. 352p.

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FIX HER UP by Tessa Bailey

June 22, 2019

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From the publisher:

A steamy, hilarious new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey, perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne!

Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since.  Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World… whatever that means.

Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this decade, perhaps?)

Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings are pants.)

Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)

Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis Ford!)

Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite?

Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there’s Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her…

This is a fast, fun read with lots of humor, pathos, and steamy sex – what more could you want? I couldn’t help but get emotionally involved with both Travis and Georgie. Retiring from professional baseball with an injury in his twenties really messed with his head. He found solace by hiding and drinking alone. Until Georgie comes by, throws some old lo mein at his head and forces him out of bed. And to clean. His best friend’s little sister is showing him something he’s never had before; someone who cares about him

A difficult childhood left Travis alone and aloof but Georgie is breaking down those walls. And she can’t stand how her family still treats her like the baby they think she is. She may be all grown up but her work as a clown for children’s birthday parties isn’t convincing anyone to treat her as an adult – except Travis.

Suspend your disbelief and enjoy this funny, sexy book. I sure did.

6/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

FIX HER UP by Tessa Bailey. HQN Books; Original edition (June 11, 2019).  ISBN  978-1335659972. 368p.

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MAN OF THE YEAR by Caroline Louise Walker

June 21, 2019

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It is a truly wonderful feeling to pick up the first published novel by an author and realize that she has hit the jackpot on the first try. Hopefully, there will be many more of the same category allowing her readers to look forward to her books and picking them up when available.

The story begins, as the title indicates, with Dr. Robert Hart receiving the Sag Harbor award for the Man of the Year. Dr Hart has it all: a thriving medical practice, a beautiful home, a beautiful and charming wife. His setting is in a lovely and upscale community on Long Island away from the mad hustle and bustle of New York City, hours away by car. His boat sits in the harbor and his dream is to get an even fancier boat in the near future.

His son, Jonah, has just come off the normal teenage rough patch and is apparently entering an adulthood that involves better relationships with his parents. Jonah has a very good friend that he met in the college he is attending and brings Nick home with him for the summer vacation. And therein enters the fly in the ointment.

After a time, Robert comes to the conclusion that Nick is having an affair with Elizabeth, the beautiful wife in the picture. Walker brings out Dr. Hart’s suspicions via innuendos he perceives in watching the interaction between the two. Clues are available for the reader which seem to point in that direction.

We are swept up in the story by the method and style used by the author and it is a book that cannot be put down before finished. There is a surprise ending which is satisfying based on what has gone before it. This in no way is any sort of detriment for the reader. I leave with the hope that I will have the pleasure of reading more Walker books in the near future.

6/19 Paul Lane

MAN OF THE YEAR by Caroline Louise Walker. Gallery Books (June 11, 2019). ISBN 978-1982100452. 304p.

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THE SUMMER OF SUNSHINE & MARGOT by Susan Mallery

June 19, 2019

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From the publisher:

The Baxter sisters come from a long line of women with disastrous luck in love. But this summer, Sunshine and Margot will turn disasters into destiny…

As an etiquette coach, Margot teaches her clients to fit in. But she’s never faced a client like Bianca, an aging movie star who gained fame—and notoriety—through a campaign of shock and awe. Schooling Bianca on the fine art of behaving like a proper diplomat’s wife requires intensive lessons, forcing Margot to move into the monastery turned mansion owned by the actress’s intensely private son. Like his incredible home, Alec’s stony exterior hides secret depths Margot would love to explore. But will he trust her enough to let her in?

Sunshine has always been the good-time sister, abandoning jobs to chase after guys who used her, then threw her away. No more. She refuses to be “that girl” again. This time, she’ll finish college, dedicate herself to her job as a nanny, and she 100 percent will not screw up her life again by falling for the wrong guy. Especially not the tempting single dad who also happens to be her boss.

Master storyteller Susan Mallery weaves threads of family drama, humor, romance and a wish-you-were-there setting into one of the most satisfying books of the year!

This book falls somewhere between women’s fiction and romance, but whatever you want to call it, it is an engrossing read. The characters are skillfully brought to life and I liked the two storylines, one following each of the sisters. They briefly overlapped now and again as the sisters are not estranged, just living their own lives as most of us do.

Sunshine is determined to turn her life around. She loves working as a nanny, but regrets the kids she left behind to follow after random men who invariably ended up hurting her. This time she is not going anywhere; she loves the young boy she is caring for and she is taking her first college class as well. The problem arises when she realizes she is very attracted to her recently widowed boss.

Margot loves helping people and this job is proving to be the most challenging one of her career. Bianca is living with her son and Margot is completely besotted – with the house. It is an old monastery that has been renovated and turned into a home, leaving much of the original intact. Bianca’s son is an historian who wants nothing more than to be left alone with his ancient documents, so he is surprised to find himself so strongly attracted to Margot. And she is equally surprised to find herself attracted to him.

Once I started this book, I was drawn completely into the lives of these sisters. If you like family stories with some romance, then you will enjoy this. I sure did.

6/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SUMMER OF SUNSHINE & MARGOT by Susan Mallory. HQN Books; Original edition (June 11, 2019).  ISBN  978-1335659972. 368p.

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TO TAME A WILD COWBOY by Lori Wilde

June 18, 2019

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Cupid, Texas Series, Book 7

From the publisher:

What would it take to tame a wild cowboy?

One minute, Rhett Lockhart is a love ‘em and leave ‘em bull rider with a slow, sexy smile, a swagger, and not a care in the world. The next, he learns his free-wheeling days are over: a baby has been abandoned in the hospital, and there’s no question: he’s the father. But from the first moment he gazes into his daughter’s eyes, he knows the moment has come to say ‘no’ to no-strings. It’s time to grow up.

Standing in his way is the baby’s foster mother, Tara Alzate, who doesn’t quite believe Rhett is ready to change his ways. Still, she’s not not immune to his considerable charms. So when he proposes a marriage of convenience and shared custody, against her better judgement, she says “I do.” Can Tara tame this wild cowboy and make her own, long-buried dreams come true?

This was a great read – made me wish I had read the six previous books in the series! Guess I’ll be hunting them down.

These characters were really brought to life and I couldn’t help but get caught up in their stories. Tara is a neonatal nurse who has taken this abandoned baby home with her. When she finds out who the father is, she knows there may be some issues as they have history. And Rhett suffers from Peter Pan syndrome. Having a baby forces him to grow up in a hurry, especially a baby with all the problems of an early premie.

If you like these contemporary cowboy romances, then pick this one up. If you haven’t read any, this is a terrific place to start!

6/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

TO TAME A WILD COWBOY by Lori Wilde. Forever (May 28, 2019). ISBN 978-1538748718.  400p.

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THE DARWIN AFFAIR by Tim Mason

June 17, 2019

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Mason takes his readers back into the England of Queen Victoria in a period around the 1860’s. He brings to vibrant life a London rife with dirt, filth, crime and disease.

Charles Darwin has recently returned from his five year voyage on H.M.S. Beagle and as a result of his studies and observations had published the very controversial “Origin Of the Species.” His claim was that nature assured the survival of creatures that developed the strongest adaptation of those skills necessary to survive in a competitive world. His views conflicted with those of many people that subscribed to the notion that man was made in God’s image. It was therefore, blasphemy to consider that humans were evolutionary descendants of apes.

At the same time the author Charles Dickens had created Chief Detective Bucket in his novel “Bleak House.” It was thought that Inspector Bucket was modeled after a real life police officer named Charles Field. The Darwin Affair begins with an attempted assassination of Queen Victoria and her husband, the Prince Consort Albert. Field is assigned to protect the royal couple and becomes involved with many of the events described.

The story brings into play a kidnapping of a butcher’s boy and what happens to him, a ring of men that rob graves in order to sell the corpses to medical schools and a visit of Prince Albert with Victoria to his native Bavaria. Mason also presents the  woman who became known as Typhoid Mary to later generations of medical students. Mary was thought to be a carrier of a recessed gene for typhoid, infecting all she came in contact with but never showing symptoms herself.

The author has taken great care in researching the events portrayed and the settings in which they take place. Conversations attributed to the characters have carefully been formulated to ring true to the more formal manner of speaking at the time. A rewarding read with the consequent portrait of the period being looked at and one that will cause readers to seek out future books by this author.

6/19 Paul Lane

THE DARWIN AFFAIR by Tim Mason. Algonquin Books; 1 edition (June 11, 2019). ISBN 978-1616206345. 384p.

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THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Garvis Graves

June 16, 2019

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From the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author of On the Island, Tracey Garvis Graves, presents the compelling, hopelessly romantic novel of unconditional love.

Annika (rhymes with Monica) Rose is an English major at the University of Illinois. Anxious in social situations where she finds most people’s behavior confusing, she’d rather be surrounded by the order and discipline of books or the quiet solitude of playing chess.

Jonathan Hoffman joined the chess club and lost his first game―and his heart―to the shy and awkward, yet brilliant and beautiful Annika. He admires her ability to be true to herself, quirks and all, and accepts the challenges involved in pursuing a relationship with her. Jonathan and Annika bring out the best in each other, finding the confidence and courage within themselves to plan a future together. What follows is a tumultuous yet tender love affair that withstands everything except the unforeseen tragedy that forces them apart, shattering their connection and leaving them to navigate their lives alone.

Now, a decade later, fate reunites Annika and Jonathan in Chicago. She’s living the life she wanted as a librarian. He’s a Wall Street whiz, recovering from a divorce and seeking a fresh start. The attraction and strong feelings they once shared are instantly rekindled, but until they confront the fears and anxieties that drove them apart, their second chance will end before it truly begins.

I had heard about this book a while back, and I’m sorry to say it got lost on my overstuffed Kindle bookshelves. Luckily, a friend read it and told me to, and I’m so happy she did.

When I started reading, my first thought was is autism in romance a new trend? Helen Hoang owns it (The Kiss Quotient, The Bride Test), but Graves does an admirable job with it here. Especially as the word autism isn’t mentioned until almost the end of the book. As I recently learned (at the Florida Library Association Annual conference,) many people who are on the ASD spectrum do not self-identify that way. Therefore they do not get the help they need and that is very much the case here.

While Annika is certainly high functioning, I think it is apparent to the reader that she is on the spectrum. On the other hand, she just thinks of herself as weird. But Jonathan makes her feel special and safe.

The story moves back and forth between both characters and two different timelines, ten years apart; when they first met in college, then ten years later. It is easy to follow and easy to differentiate between all that, and the story moves quickly and dramatically. I loved these characters, all of them, even the secondary characters, because they are all so well drawn and feel like people I could run into tomorrow. That says a lot about the mad writing skills Graves displays here. But I especially loved the story of how these people move through life and toward one another.

My only complaint about this book was the ending; it was rather abrupt. I needed another page or two with a more defined resolution. I usually hate it when books tie up every loose end in a bow, it never seems real that way but this ending was too far in the other direction for me. But that is a minor quibble. I loved this book and I truly hope it finds a lot of readers.

6/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE GIRL HE USED TO KNOW by Tracey Garvis Graves. St. Martin’s Press (April 2, 2019).  ISBN  978-1250200358. 304p.

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A ROGUE BY NIGHT by Kelly Bowen

June 15, 2019

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The Devils of Dover, Book 3

From the publisher:

2018 RITA award-winning author!
From the author who Sarah MacLean calls “a charming, clever, and engaging storyteller” comes the next regency romance in the witty and sexy Devils of Dover series!

Baron. Physician. Smuggler. Harland Hayward is living a double life as an aristocrat by day and a criminal by night. As a doctor, Harland has the perfect cover to appear in odd places at all hours, a cover he uses to his advantage. He’s chosen this life to save his family from financial ruin, but he draws the line at taking advantage of the honest and trustworthy Katherine Wright.

Katherine thought she was done smuggling. Having finally convinced her ailing father and injured brother to abandon their criminal pursuits, she’s returned to England to help them escape to a new life–once she helps them fulfill their last contract. And that means working with Hayward, even when her instincts tell her that becoming his ally may be a risk to her heart – as well as her life.

Bowen is an award winning romance writer and this is only the second book of hers that I’ve read, and the first in this series. It’s a very good, very suspenseful read.

Our heroine is a surgeon, although the protocol of the day states that there is no such thing as a lady doctor. Nonetheless, Katherine is a doctor, trained by her mother and by war. She followed her heart, going off to war with a man who promised to marry her. Instead, he abandoned her, leaving her bitter and suspicious. But she learned a lot, she stayed abroad and took care of many soldiers who weren’t wealthy enough for a real, AKA, male doctor.

Once again we have to truly suspend our disbelief and I don’t mind at all. I like these strong, smart, completely fictional women who should have been able to kick butt instead of being relegated to looking pretty and capturing a husband. The hero is also an anomaly; a member of the peerage who is a practicing doctor instead of just practicing gambling and hunting as befits his station. Oh, and both of them are smugglers. This is a complex story with a lot of suspense due to all the illegal activity going on, not to mention a power hungry zealot as the town lawman.

A comment on the cover, because I do, at times, judge a book by its cover. If I saw this on the shelf in a bookstore or library, I would not realize that it is historical based on the picture on the cover. The title certainly hints at it, not a lot of contemporary romances use “rogue” in the title. But it looks like a pretty modern guy, maybe wearing a puffy shirt (remember that Seinfeld episode?)

 

 

6/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

A ROGUE BY NIGHT by Kelly Bowen. Forever (May 28, 2019).  ISBN 978-1478918622. 368p.

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