Book Reviews | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

HEADS IN BEDS by Jacob Tomsky

November 25, 2015

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A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality

Jacob Tomsky works the front desk of high end, luxury hotels. Here he offers up the inside dirt on what really goes on, how to get the most bang for your buck, but really his point is how to beat the system – all told in a most entertaining fashion. Think of it like Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential for the hotel industry.

Not all of his tips are, how shall I put this…ethical? But he explains why you shouldn’t worry about it. Personally, I have to sleep at night so his tips on how to avoid paying for in room movies and the minibar just didn’t sit right with me. But I will definitely use his tips on how to avoid paying the cancellation fee, how to get upgrades, why and when you need the concierge, and why you should always use and tip the bellman.

I listened to the audiobook, which the author reads, and he does a really good job. I actually had to stop it a few times to take notes! But for the most part, the note taking portion is in the appendix. The book itself is by turns funny, horrifying and always interesting – at least to anyone who has ever stayed or is planning to stay in a hotel. A fun and informative read.

11/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

HEADS IN BEDS by Jacob Tomsky. Anchor (July 30, 2013). ISBN 978-0307948342. 320p.

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THE SPINSTERS GUIDE TO SCANDALOUS BEHAVIOR by Jennifer McQuiston

November 24, 2015

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Seduction Diaries, Book 2

Lucy Westmore has no interest in getting married. She vaguely remembers a spinster aunt, long estranged from the family, who dies and leaves Lucy her farm in Cornwall and her diary.

Lucy’s father decides to sell the farm but Lucy rebels and reminds her father that she is the proper owner. Then she takes off for the farm, determined to see her property and perhaps live there as well. On her journey, she reads her aunt’s diary that is filled with advice on men, being a spinster, and more.

Lord Thomas Branston has been taking care of the property and is the potential buyer. He is determined to convince Lucy to sell, but she is just as stubborn as he is. As she adjusts to life in Cornwall, romance ensues with the young, damaged Lord.

As usual, I missed the first book in this series but I’m going to find it. This was terrific!

11/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE SPINSTERS GUIDE TO SCANDALOUS BEHAVIOR by Jennifer McQuiston. Avon (November 24, 2015). ISBN 978-0062335128. 400p.

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DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER by Jennifer McQuiston

November 23, 2015

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Seduction Diaries, Book 1

Clare Westmore is the eldest daughter of a Viscount and entering her second season. She has her sights on Mr. Alban, heir to a dukedom, and thinks she is pretty and popular enough to snag him.

Shortly after the season begins, she has a nasty fall while walking in the park with her younger siblings and badly sprains her ankle. Determined to dance anyway, she attends a ball when she is spied by the head-turningly handsome young doctor, Daniel Merial. He realizes she is limping and approaches her, and she is haughty but really hurting.

Merial ends up attending her and insists on several weeks of bed rest. As his visits continue, Clare starts having feelings for him but fights them off, as he is not a suitable suitor. Meanwhile, her friends, and I use the term loosely, have been spreading rumors about her, trying to sabotage her relationship with Mr. Alban.

This is an interesting look at society and the classes with even a bit of politics thrown in. Lots of twists make this a fun read before the invariably happy ending.

This is the first book in the series, and the second book is even better.

11/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER by Jennifer McQuiston. Avon (February 24, 2015). ISBN 978-0062335012. 384p.

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A DIFFERENT LIE by Derek Haas

November 22, 2015

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The norm for a couple when having a baby is for one to be working, and if financially possible, the other to take some time off to get the child off to a healthy start. All well and good unless you have the type of occupation that the “Silver Bear” AKA Columbus and his partner Risina have. Both were introduced in previous books by Derek Haas. They are a contract killer and his “fence,” who is the planner and guide in the assassinations.

An interesting new assignment arrives for the duo. They are to kill someone named Castillo, who is strangely another assassin currently on the rise in the field. Castillo is aware of them and is as qualified as Columbus and looks forward to taking him out, reducing the competition. He is also aware that Columbus has a partner and a baby to take care of. And the part that is of most interest is that Castillo has studied the methods of his rival and models himself after him.

Columbus’ orders are clear, i.e., kill Castillo and in an extremely choreographed battle of wits goes after him. The book is short, but manages to keep the reader glued as one move results in a counter move throughout the descriptions. The ending is not telegraphed by any means and leaves a cliffhanger that just must be resolved in a later novel.

11/15 Paul Lane

A DIFFERENT LIE by Derek Haas. Pegasus (November 16, 2015). ISBN 978-1605988993. 272p.

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LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green

November 21, 2015

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Let me start off by saying I didn’t love this book. I was not a huge fan of The Fault in Our Stars; frankly, by the end, I wanted them all to die. But a young co-worker recommended this one and I had a couple of hours to kill, so I read it. In my own defense of not loving this extraordinarily popular author, he does write books for young adults, traditionally defined as teens. But the explosion in popularity of these books has led me down this path, and while I love some of them, I don’t love them all. Feel free to comment.

So far this is the third John Green book that is being made into a movie, after the aforementioned The Fault in Our Stars and this year’s Paper Towns, which I didn’t read or see. Looking for Alaska is actually Green’s first book, and film is supposed to be released sometime in 2016. Here is the trailer:

The book won the Michael L. Printz award (highest honor for YA books), was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a NY Times bestseller. I can understand its appeal, and I liked it better than Fault, but that’s the best I can say.

Here’s a brief synopsis from the publisher:

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .

After. Nothing is ever the same.

So we have a character, Miles, who is the schlubby kid who gets picked on. With a fresh start at a boarding school, his roommate befriends him and introduces him to smoking, and Alaska. Is that a thing now, naming kids after places? Brooklyn, London, Alaska. Why not.

This is a coming of age story about young adults living away from home with the freedom that’s implied. These kids were tame compared to what me & my friends were up to at that age (and you know who you are and what we were doing!) but nonetheless, there are serious ramifications and devastation before the book is done. Lesson learned, I suppose. It was a quick read, if that is enough of an inducement.

11/15 Stacy Alesi

LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green. Speak; Reprint edition (December 28, 2006). ISBN 978-0142402511. 221p.

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ONE MAN’S FLAG by David Downing

November 20, 2015

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Downing has written a series of novels about Jack McColl, a spy working for his Majesty’s Secret Service during World War One. One Man’s Flag is the second in this series and picks up McColl when he is working in India for the British government.

In the first book, McColl meets and falls in love with Caitlin Hanley, an American-Irish journalist looking to make a name for herself during a period of momentous events including the First World War, as well as the planning and initiating of an Irish revolution against Great Britain. That book ends with Miss Hanley’s brother thwarted when involved with Irish separatists by her lover, Jack McColl.

McColl’s supervisor sends him to Ireland to look into the probability of an uprising during a period when England is involved in a major war with Germany. Jack and Caitlin, of course, meet again and find that their love continues, especially when it comes out that McColl made an attempt to help Caitilin’s brother escape.

Their adventures are recreated using an extremely well researched knowledge of events and places that existed during the period. Caitlin uses her American citizenship to visit Germany as a neutral, and actually gains her way very close to the front lines. It is her opinion, (and obviously that of David Downing,) that the people were very much with the military and the soldiers, feeling that their cause was the right one.

Her postings from the war zone assure her of success as a journalist. McColl, on the other hand, takes a trip to visit his brother who is serving on the western front in Europe. Downing, through the avenue of McColl, states the opinion that England had a cadre of incompetent officers leading their army. They tossed away lives by ordering massive charges against artillery and machine guns. And if the first charge failed, they would simply order another one. The comment is made that the loss of life approximated 5000 men a day, resulting in a stalemate of monumental proportions. Both sides worked to entice the United States to enter the war on their side and this second book ends at the end of 1916, with the widening war soon to include America.

Downing’s books are very clearly tailored to bring out the probable thoughts and opinions of an era now a century away from us. I have no doubt that these novels will allow readers to sympathize with people living and acting in those days.

11/15 Paul Lane

ONE MAN’S FLAG by David Downing. Soho Crime; First Edition edition (November 3, 2015). ISBN 978-1616952709. 384p.

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PLAYING WITH FIRE by Kate Meader

November 19, 2015

Hot in Chicago #2

This is the second book in the series but my first Meader read, and I’ll be back for more. This title made Publisher’s Weekly list of the best romances of 2015, so I requested a copy from the publisher and they sent it out immediately. A contemporary romance bordering on erotica but not quite crossing the line, Meader excels at heating things up page by page, and I couldn’t turn them fast enough.

I loved her main character, Alexandra Dempsey, Alex to everyone, a newbie firefighter in Chicago. She’s built like a real woman, has a big mouth and often acts on impulse – hey, she reminds me of me! At least when I was that age.

Alex comes from a mixed up family of firefighters, with foster brothers, half brothers, I think – not entirely sure how they were all related. She has two sisters-in-law, maybe, and they are also her best friends. Alex’s impulsive ways get her national fame when she chops up a $400,000 car after the occupant goes on a homophobic, misogynist rant while she is trying to save him. The mayor steps in and keeps the ranter from suing her, but there is a lot of history between the mayor, his family and Alex’s family – not much of it good.

Later Alex responds to a call at a hotel, and while checking the building finds the mayor close to unconscious. She gives him her air, and in the process saves him but then he has to save her when she faints from the smoke inhalation. But that meeting sets something ablaze besides the fire. The mayor becomes obsessed with Alex, and finagles her into “fake dating” him while he’s running for reelection. They have real chemistry but Alex puts the brakes on until her sister-in-law convinces her to just use him for sex.

I liked how the mayor respected her boundaries, and I loved their chemistry. This was a sizzling romance for sure and I’m looking forward (and back) for the rest of the series.

11/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

PLAYING WITH FIRE by Kate Meader. Pocket Books (September 29, 2015). ISBN 978-1476785929. 384p.

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POWERLESS by Tim Washburn

November 18, 2015

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On various occasions newspaper articles, TV spots and other public forums announce that countries are working on magnetic weapons of war. This would be a method of destroying the manufacturing and distribution of any and all electric power. There would be no deaths directly attributable to the loss of power, although many would be caused by the consequences of said loss. Buildings and other installations would remain standing, and the population of the area receiving the attack would survive in the main to become subservient to the attacker.

Powerless is a well thought out novel describing the aftermath of a total loss of electrical power in the entire world due to explosions on our sun and energy generated by those sunspots. The book focuses on the United States and several groups of people and how they are affected by the catastrophe.

While Luke Marshall, an army veteran, is singled out for closer examination, other people are introduced and followed as their lives are affected by the loss of electricity. Cars stall, water is not pumped into homes, phones including cellular are rendered useless, planes fall out of the sky and nuclear plants begin inevitable meltdown. Luke Marshall undertakes a journey to pick up and bring his family home.

Lawlessness reigns, it is everyone for himself, and it’s survival of the strongest and those that have access to weapons to utilize for both protection and to use as strong arm tactics. The President of the United States attempts to restore some sort of order but finds that the loss of electricity subjects him, as well as all others, an inability to function normally. In an interesting aside, the destruction of an enemy of the country is a rewarding prospective.

The main thrust of the book is the description of destruction and devastation, but the ending is a logical method of restoring the material aspects of the civilization we now enjoy. An excellent and thought provoking exploration of what could happen if we have our civilization taken away by an outside force.

11/15 Paul Lane

POWERLESS by Tim Washburn. Pinnacle (October 27, 2015). ISBN: 978-0786036530. 464p.

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Hillary Rodham Clinton Presidential Playset by Caitlin Kuhwald

November 17, 2015

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Includes Ten Paper Dolls, Three Rooms of Fun, Fashion Accessories, and More!

From the publisher:

It may not be an election year, but you can cast your vote early with the Hillary Rodham Clinton Presidential Playset! This fold-out book features replicas of the Oval Office and other White House locations, plus perforated paper dolls of Hillary Clinton and all of her political pals and adversaries.

Be HRC’s chief of staff as she takes questions at the press podium, hashes out tough negotiations in the Situation Room, or even consults with the ghost of Abe Lincoln.

Complete with a pop-up cast of characters and accouterments (Bill comes with a lawn mower to keep him busy), this fun and feminist-friendly playset is perfect for Hillary fans young and old.

hillary paper dolls

I mean how cute is this?! Gift this to the feminist in your life. I’m keeping mine! Or maybe I’ll share with my daughter.

11/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

Hillary Rodham Clinton Presidential Playset by Caitlin Kuhwald. Quirk Books; Nov edition (November 17, 2015). ISBN 978-1594748318. 12p.

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THE MARRIAGE PACT by M.J. Pullen

November 16, 2015

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Marci is turning thirty and her life is not what she expected. Living in Austin, Texas near no one she knows and working temp jobs is her sad reality. Her only relationship is an illicit affair with one of her bosses, who is married.

On her birthday she gets an email from one of her best friends from college, Jake. They had made a pact that if neither of them was married by the time they turned thirty, they would marry each other. Not that he’s pushing.

Marci is so involved with Doug and being at his beck and call around all his marital obligations that she has no time for anyone else and it is starting to wear on her. Eventually things take a turn as they often do in these sorts of relationships, and Marci quits her job and moves back home. Her best friends are there to help her muddle through and there is always Jake to the rescue. But Marci is torn; should she marry her friend while she’s still in love with Doug?

I had a hard time with this book. I know I was supposed to root for Marci to find her happy ending, but as a child of divorce with a father who was a cheater, I have a real problem with infidelity. I was tempted more than once to just put it down and forget about it, but I finished it. If you don’t have a problem with the other woman storyline, then go for it.

11/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE MARRIAGE PACT by M.J. Pullen. Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (November 3, 2015). ISBN 978-1250070937. 304p.

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