YOUNG JANE YOUNG by Gabrielle Zevin

August 31, 2017

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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.

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THE CHESAPEAKE BRIDE by Mariah Stewart

August 30, 2017

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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.

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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.

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MONTANA HEAT: ESCAPE TO YOU by Jennifer Ryan

August 29, 2017

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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.

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JACK’S WIFE FREDA by Maya & Dean Jankelowitz

August 28, 2017

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Cooking from New York’s West Village

Recipes by Julia Jaksic 

I haven’t been to this restaurant but I’ve heard about it – this is Jewish comfort food.  I’m too far away to go but with this cookbook, the possibilities are real.

Jack and Freda come from different backgrounds – Ashkenazi and Sephardic, and they throw in South African and Israeli flavors as well. This cookbook is nothing if not interesting. They include their personal stories here too, and their families, and it is all interesting.

The cookbook begins after the introductory story to the family. And as with many cookbooks today, it begins with the pantry and some basics like Homemade Mayonnaise, Hot Sauce, Peri Peri Spice, Tzatziki and more. The chapters are as follows:

Breakfast
Day Drinks
Lunch
Drinks
Dinner
Dessert

There is an excellent index, as well. The pictures, both of the restaurant, the kitchen and of course the food, are spectacular. It doesn’t hurt that this is an oversized cookbook printed on nice, heavy paper, too.

“Breakfast” couldn’t be more beautiful or delicious than “Eggs Benny,” taking the classic Eggs Benedict to a whole new level by planting it on a potato latke and topping it with beet hollandaise – it is gorgeous. The instructions on how to poach an egg (like many of the instructions throughout the book) are charming, hand drawn pictures. I’ve never considered pairing ruby red grapefruit with my yogurt but now I will, and “Julia’s Granola” makes a fine topping. I was intrigued by the recipe for “Duck Bacon” but honestly not sure I’ll ever try it.

“Day Drinks” include things like “Nana Tea,” “Cantaloupe Juice,” and “Mint Lemonade.” “Lunch” can be light – “Pea and Ricotta Toast,” the ubiquitous “Avocado Toast” or a “Greek Salad” or a bit heavier with “Matzo Ball Soup” a traditional recipe that swaps out the usual chicken fat for duck fat, or “Chicken Kebab” with Couscous, or the “Prego Roll,” a skirt steak sandwich. Then we move on to the bar.

“Drinks” include “Jack’s Wife Freda Pimm’s Cup” with added ginger, a “Melon Mimosa” made the aforementioned Cantaloupe Juice (I’m allergic, dammit!) and a nice “Jose’s Hot Toddy.” If you’ve ever wanted to try a real Bloody Mary from scratch, now’s your chance, this is a terrific recipe that includes horseradish, Dijon, Worcestershire, and more flavor than you’ll ever get out of a mix.

Dinner starts with some small plates, like “Zucchini Chips” and a gorgeous “Spiced Beet Dip.” Add a beet to anything and you get pow-in-the-face color. There are vegetarian recipes like “Roasted Cauliflower” and “Veggie Curry with Apple-Raisin Chutney,” and not so vegetarian like “Chicken Livers on Toast,”  “Sweetbreads with Peri Peri Sauce” and “Freda’s Fishballs” which is not your grandmother’s gefilte fish – for one thing these are coated in Panko and deep fried.

We can’t talk about dessert without “Malva Pudding”, which the restaurant is known for and I never heard of. It’s a South African dessert that is “a dense cake soaked in a delicous caramel sauce.” The recipe is intriguing, as is the “Flourless Chipotle Chocolate Cake” made from a pound of semisweet chocolate tempered with chipotle powder. But the one I’m definitely going to be making is “Halva Cookies.” If you haven’t had halva, it’s a delicious candy made from sesame seed paste. These cookies are loaded with black and white sesame seeds and a bit of halva in the center. Yum!

8/17  Stacy Alesi AKA the BookBitch™

JACK’S WIFE FREDA by Maya & Dean Jankelowitz. Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (October 25, 2016). ISBN: 978-0547614847. 528p.

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FITNESS JUNKIE by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza

August 25, 2017

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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.

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SEEING RED by Sandra Brown

August 24, 2017

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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.

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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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