Tag Archive for: Lori’s Book Sense

Lori’s Book Sense ~ November

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Lori's Reading Corner

I’m doing things a little different this month. I have just one book I am going to share with you. The reason being is that it is, hands down, one of the best books I’ve ever read! And it wouldn’t be fair to any other book I happen to recommend in the same space.  The only problem is (for the rest of you) is that the book doesn’t come out until January 31st.

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.
 

When I closed the last page of this book, I sat there and went “woah”.  I couldn’t believe the journey the story that I had just read had taken me on. The story is that of a Andy Barber, an ADA in Massachusetts, who decides not to assign another prosecutor the case of a fourteen-year-old boy found murdered in a local park, but to prosecute it himself, despite the fact that others feel he should step down since his son went to the same school as the victim. He doesn’t feel there is a conflict of interest, as his son claims not to have known the murdered boy. But, when his son is arrested and charged with the murder, Andy is forced to step down from the case and suddenly finds himself on the other side of the courtroom.
This book deals with issues of nature vs nurture, and how much your upbringing vs your DNA factor in to the person you become. Can the sins of your families past (nature) become the person of your present, even if you never knew about them (nurture)?  How blinded can you be when looking at your children? Do you really only see what you want to see? Does unconditional love truly know no bounds?

What follows is an emotional story that is part courtroom thriller, part mystery, and part family drama. All of which combine to create an emotionally packed tale of one families struggle to not only believe in their child, and what’s he’s told them, but to find a way to save him, and their family unit. At any cost.
I’ll have my full review up on my blog soon, so make sure to look for it.  In the mean time, pre-order this book – TODAY! I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

Lori’s Book Sense

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Lori's Reading Corner

Welcome to this months edition of Lori’s Book Sense.
I hope you enjoy these great titles I’ve chosen for you this month.
 ‘Every good love story has another love hiding within it.’ Brokenhearted and still mourning the loss of her husband, Heidi travels with Abbott, her obsessive-compulsive seven-year-old son, and Charlotte, her jaded sixteen-year-old niece, to the small village of Puyloubier in the south of France, where a crumbling stone house may be responsible for mending hearts since before World War II. There, Charlotte confesses a shocking secret, and Heidi learns the truth about her mother’s ‘lost summer’ when Heidi was a child. As three generations collide with one another, with the neighbor who seems to know all of their family skeletons, and with an enigmatic Frenchman, Heidi, Charlotte, and Abbot journey through love, loss, and healing amid the vineyards, warm winds and delicious food of Provence. Can the magic of the house heal Heidi’s heart, too?
The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted is a story full o f hope, promise, and the love one feels for someone even after they are gone. It’s about families finding each other, about secrets being told, and about coming home again. It’s a story about believing in oneself, hope for the future, coming together, and dealing with the past. The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted is a tender-hearted love story that tackles moving on from grief and opening up to love again. 
Friendship Bread by Darian Gee
An anonymous gift sends a woman on a journey she never could have anticipated. One afternoon, Julia Evarts and her five-year-old daughter, Gracie, arrive home to find an unexpected gift on the front porch: a homemade loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and a simple note: I hope you enjoy it. Also included are a bag of starter, instructions on how to make the bread herself, and a request to share it with others. Still reeling from a personal tragedy that left her estranged from the sister who was once her best friend, Julia remains at a loss as to how to move on with her life. She’d just as soon toss the anonymous gift, but to make Gracie happy, she agrees to bake the bread.  When Julia meets two newcomers to the small town of Avalon, Illinois, she sparks a connection by offering them her extra bread starter. Widow Madeline Davis is laboring to keep her tea salon afloat while Hannah Wang de Brisay, a famed concert cellist, is at a crossroads, her career and marriage having come to an abrupt end. In the warm kitchen of Madeline’s tea salon, the three women forge a friendship that will change their lives forever. In no time, everyone in Avalon is baking Amish Friendship Bread. But even as the town unites for a benevolent cause and Julia becomes ever closer to her new friends, she realizes the profound necessity of confronting the painful past she shares with her sister. About life and loss, friendship and community, food and family, Friendship Bread tells the uplifting story of what endures when even the unthinkable happens.

The main characters in the book are Julia, Hannah, Livvy, Madeline, and Edie. But throughout the book are chapters about other members in the community, like Mark the therapist, Clinton the copy machine tech, Clyde the pharmacist, and A.A. the bike shop owner. While some readers may find these chapters unnecessary and detracting away from the central characters and their stories, I enjoyed them. They showed us not only what the concept of the Friendship Bread stood for, how it affected not only Julia, Hannah, Livvy, Madeline, and Edie, but the community as a whole. And when another tragedy befalls a neighboring community, we see how this one simple act of kindness, of sharing your Amish Friendship Bread starter, can bring everyone together to pay it forward and change the lives of many. Friendship Bread is a beautiful story of old loves, new friends, and the repairing of tattered relationships. It should be read slowly ~ savored like your favorite desert. 
Such A Pretty Face by Cathy Lamb

In this warm, funny, thoroughly candid novel, acclaimed author Cathy Lamb introduces an unforgettable heroine who’s half the woman she used to be, and about to find herself for the first time.Two years and 170 pounds ago, Stevie Barrett was wheeled into an operating room for surgery that most likely saved her life. Since that day, a new Stevie has emerged, one who walks without wheezing, plants a garden for self-therapy, and builds and paints fantastical wooden chairs. At thirty-five, Stevie is the one thing she never thought she’d be: thin. But for everything that’s changed, some things remain the same. Stevie’s shyness refuses to melt away. She still can’t look her neighbors’ gorgeous great-nephew in the eye. The Portland law office where she works remains utterly dysfunctional, as does her family-the aunt, uncle, and cousins who took her in when she was a child. To top it off, her once supportive best friend clearly resents her weight loss. By far the biggest challenge in Stevie’s new life lies in figuring out how to define her new self. Collaborating with her cousins to plan her aunt and uncle’s problematic fortieth anniversary party, Stevie starts to find some surprising answers-about who she is, who she wants to be, and how the old Stevie evolved in the first place. And with each revelation, she realizes the most important part of her transformation may not be what she’s lost, but the courage and confidence she’s gathering, day by day. As achingly honest as it is witty, Such A Pretty Face is a richly insightful novel of one woman’s search for love, family, and acceptance, of the pain we all carry-and the wonders that can happen when we let it go at last.
This book is loaded with tough topics like anorexia, overeating, gay marriage, divorce, self-esteem issues, mental illness, abuse, and death. It is not for the faint of heart. BUT, it is also filled with love, hope, humor, honesty, devotion, trust and forgiveness. You will want to reach right into the pages of the book to comfort those who are hurting. Does being skinny and having a “pretty face” mean you have it all? Nope. As the saying goes – beauty is only skin deep. From an opening that will tear your heart to pieces to an ending that will sew it back together again, Such A Pretty Face will make you laugh and it will make you cry. It will make you feel. Because that’s exactly what a great book does.
Until next month…… 

Lori’s Book Sense

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Lori's Reading Corner

Welcome to this months edition of Lori’s Book Sense. 
I hope you enjoy these great titles I’ve chosen for you this month.

He mutilates his victims. Slices their throats. And carves an X into their flesh. Five years ago, he claimed the lives of six women. Then the killings abruptly stopped – no one knows why. Ex-homicide detective Frank Quinn remembers. Which is why he’s shocked to see one of the dead women in his office. Actually, she’s the identical twin of the last victim, and she wants Quinn to find her sister’s murderer. But when the cold case heats up, it attracts the media spotlight – and suddenly the killings start again…
After all this time, the feelings between Frank and Pearl seem to still simmer below the surface.  But that soon changes when Pearl meets Yancy Taggart and their whirlwind relationship begins. Can Frank deal with his feelings about this relationship while at the same time hunting a deranged serial killer?  And when tragedy befalls one of them, will they all be able to go on?  The hunt for The Carver and Chrissie heats up and based on information obtained during the investigation, Frank brings in a family member to help draw both The Carver and Chrissie out.  The race to stop the killings leads to a stunning, yet deadly conclusion. One that still leaves them with unanswered questions and will have the reader thinking “Holy …..”   John Lutz is a masterful story teller who has written a tense, action packed novel filled with so many twists and turns you’ll think you are on amusement park ride. Mister X is a superb suspense novel that will have you reading well into the night, keeping the lights burning bright, while at the same time getting up constantly to make sure all of the doors and windows are locked tight. X definitely marks this spot!
Prayers and Lies
When seven-year-old Bethany meets her six-year-old cousin Reana Mae, it’s the beginning of a kinship of misfits that saves both from a bone-deep loneliness. Every summer, Bethany and her family leave Indianapolis for West Virginia’s Coal River Valley. For Bethany’s mother, the trips are a reminder of the coalmines and grinding poverty of her childhood, of a place she’d hoped to escape. But her loving relatives, and Bethany’s friendship with Reana Mae, keep them coming back.

But as Bethany grows older, she realizes that life in this small, close-knit community is not as simple as she once thought. . .that the riverside cabins that hold so much of her family’s history also teem with scandalous whispers. . .and that those closest to her harbor unimaginable secrets. Amid the dense woods and quiet beauty of the valley, these secrets are coming to light at last, with a force devastating enough to shatter lives, faith, and the bond that Bethany once thought would last forever. Spanning four decades, Sherri Wood Emmons’ debut is a haunting, captivating novel about the unexpected, sometimes shocking events that thrust us into adulthood–and the connections that keep us tethered, always, to our pasts.

From page one,  you will become entrenched in the lives of Bethy, Reana Mae and the rest of their family. Your heart will ache for their past sufferings, and your mind will scream at them for the situations they now find themselves in. Can this current generation overcome the sins of those that came before them? Or are they destined to repeat those same mistakes? Will lies continue to be told? Will the prayers finally be answered?  The raw emotion, the angst of the teenage years, the desire to be wanted, needed, and loved, the hatred, the lies, the secrets, the pain, the joy and the yearnings of Bethany and her cousin Reana Mae will take hold of your heart from the very first page and never let go. An amazing story of love, friendship, and the test of time that will stay will you long after you turn the last page.

Playing with Matches by N.C. Hyzy

Tough and tenacious, Riley Drake is a first-class private eye who runs background checks for a dating service on the side. But she has zero interest in helping billionaire John Stratton clear his name so the man can resume dating again. The handsome widower would be quite the catch—if it weren’t for the fact that he probably murdered his wife. Stratton’s woes are only part of Riley’s problems. Other clients—a TV celebrity with sexual-perception issues, a Trump-like entrepreneur with an embarrassing fetish, and a worshipful drug-addict trying to go straight—keep her running through the streets of Chicago, ready to take down anyone who gets in her way. Riley is determined to uncover all their secrets, even though she knows that playing with matches means you sometimes get burnt.

Mainstream mystery lovers should welcome N.C. Hyzy with open arms, as she’s sure to quickly become a favorite. You may know her better as Julie Hyzy, a gifted cozy author (see The West Wing Chef mystery series and the Manor of Murder mystery series.)   With Playing with Matches  N.C. has changed course from the books she’s known for and written a book with a bit more edge, more grit, stronger language, and a tougher heroine from what you would find in her other books. Creating a pen name will work to separate her two personas, so that those who prefer her cozy mysteries won’t be disappointed – or offended, if they should pick up a copy of Playing With Matches and find it’s not what they expected it to be. What you can expect is that it has everything and more that a solid mystery should be: great supporting cast of characters, a mystery that you’ll be hard-pressed to figure out on your own, twists and turns galore, and a kick-ass heroine. There is so much to love and learn about Riley (and her seemingly sad past) that I will be anxiously awaiting the next installment in this amazing new series.

Until next month…..

Lori’s Book Sense

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Lori's Reading Corner

Welcome to July’s edition of Lori’s Book Sense. I hope you like the hot titles I’ve got for you this month.

Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens ~ All her life, Sara Gallagher has wondered about her birth parents. As an adopted child with two sisters who were born naturally to her parents, Sara did not have an ideal home life. The question of why she was given up for adoption has always haunted her. Finally, she is ready to take steps and to find closure. But some questions are better left unanswered. After months of research, Sara locates her birth mother—only to be met with horror and rejection. Then she discovers the devastating truth: Her mother was the only victim ever to escape a killer who has been hunting women every summer for decades. But Sara soon realizes the only thing worse than finding out about her father is him finding out about her. What if murder is in your blood? Never Knowing is a complex and compelling portrayal of one woman’s quest to understand herself, her origins, and her family. That is, if she can survive. . . .

  
Never Knowing is told in the same vein as the author’s previous book Still Missing. It is told through Sara’s voice as she relates the day, days, or weeks past events to her therapist.  Each chapter starts with Sara apologizing for missing an appointment, thanking her for fitting her in so quickly, or maybe asking about her how she’s doing herself.  The chapter then moves you right back into the story as if you’re standing next to Sara, virtually holding her hand, as she relates the horrific events of what her life has become. I was a bit concerned as to how this book would play out compared to her first novel, wondering if the same format (of the chapter beginning in the therapist’s office, then moving to the story) could work again. Chevy Stevens was certainly not a one-hit-wonder with this format. Once again, she makes the concept work.  I had such a visceral experience when reading this book. I could feel the dislike coming from Sara’s father, I could see the distrust in Evan’s eyes with the male cop, I could hear the resentment in Julia’s voice when confronted with Sara reappearing in her life, and I could taste the bitterness in Sara’s mouth when having to deal with the man how fathered her. Never Knowing is one woman’s heart-wrenching search to find the truth and then having to deal with the consequences of what she finds. 

No Rest For The Dead – Andrew Guili (Editor) ~  Alexander McCall Smith. Sandra Brown. Faye Kellerman. J.A. Jance. Jeffery Deaver. Kathy Reichs. Lisa Scottoline. Jeff Lindsay. These are only a handful of the names that make up the all-star lineup of authors behind No Rest for the Dead, a tale of vengeance, greed, and love that flows seamlessly, in the words of David Baldacci, “as it passes from one creator’s mind to the next.”  When Christopher Thomas, a ruthless curator at San Francisco’s McFall Art Museum, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in a Berlin museum, his wife, Rosemary, is the primary suspect, and she is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, is convinced that the wrong person was put to death. In the years since the case was closed, he’s discovered a web of deceit and betrayal surrounding the Thomases that could implicate any number of people in the crime. With the help of the dead woman’s friend, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth, suspect by suspect. Solving this case may be Nunn’s last chance for redemption … but the shadowy forces behind Christopher’s death will stop at nothing to silence the past forever. In this innovative storytelling approach, each of these twenty-five bestselling writers brings their distinctive voice to a chapter of the narrative, building the tension to a shocking, explosive finale. No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that only America’s very best authors could achieve.

When I read the preview for this book I was immediately enticed. So many great authors all in one place?! A readers dream come true.  Was it possible for twenty-five different authors to write one seamless story? I would quickly find out that the answer was – Heck yeah!  Each author writes a different chapter in the book, and each one begins with the name of the author penning that particular chapter. Since some of my favorite authors (Faye Kellerman, Sandra Brown, Tess Gerritsen, to name a few) took part in this fantastic endeavor, I thought I would be able to differentiate their writing, their voice,  from the authors that I don’t know as well. That just wasn’t the case. All of these authors worked so well together that the chapters blended into one another beautifully. I’d love to know how it was done. Did one author write an outline the others worked off of? Did one author write a chapter and then pass if off to the next in line? Who decided which chapter each other would write? Did all of the authors know how it would end (by an outline), or did only the authors of the last few chapters know where the book would go?  If the authors name wasn’t at the beginning of each chapter, I would never have known that this book was written by so many different people. They all came together to emit one strong, fantastically woven tale. 

Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross ~   A horrible family tragedy that may not be what it seems . . .A past encounter with an infamous killer turns deadly today . . .An ordinary man must risk his own family to find the truth.Jay Erlich’s nephew has been found at the bottom of a cliff at Morrow Bay. It’s all just a tragic suicide, until secrets from the past begin to rear up again. Did a notorious killer, jailed for many decades, have his hand in this?Years ago, Jay Erlich’s older brother, Charlie, a wayward child of the sixties, set out for California, where he fell under the sway of a charismatic but deeply disturbed cultlike figure. Tragedy ensued and lives were destroyed, but as the decades passed, Charlie married and raised a family and lived a quiet, secluded life under the radar. Yet the demons that nearly destroyed him never completely disappeared.When Jay heads out west to help his grieving brother, he is pulled back into Charlie’s past—and begins to suspect that his nephew’s suicide may not have been that at all. With eyes wide open, Jay puts his own life at risk to uncover the truth, a quest that goes beyond the edge of madness and a family haunted by a secret past . . . and into the depths of evil. Drawing on two real-life experiences from his own past, Gross has crafted a richly personal, yet utterly terrifying tale of two brothers, one successful, one wayward, trying to bridge the gap of what tore them apart.

Eyes Wide Open is full of murder, mystery, sadness, family, and forgiveness. But what truly makes this book stand out is that Andrew Gross has written an amazing, and extremely personal novel with Eyes Wide Open. The emotions that pour out of Jay, Charlie, and Gabriella are so raw, so real, that you can actually feel them coming off the pages of the book. You can literally feel how much each of those affected by Evan’s loss are truly hurting, because the author felt this hurt himself.  Eyes Wide Open is not your typical Andrew Gross book. This is a very personal story for him. He took the basis of his own family tragedy and turned it into a remarkable story that will make you hold your loved ones closer, think about what is most important in your life, and be more compassionate for those that may not be as perfect as you are. This story will stay with you for a long time to come. 
Until Next Month ………

Lori’s Book Sense

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Lori's Reading Corner

Long Gone by Alafair Burke


After a layoff and months of struggling, Alice Humphrey finally lands her dream job managing a new art gallery in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District.According to Drew Campbell, the well-suited corporate representative who hires her, the gallery is a passion project for its anonymous, wealthy, and eccentric owner. Drew assures Alice that the owner will be hands off, allowing her to run the gallery on her own. Her friends think it sounds too good to be true, but Alice sees a perfect opportunity to make a name for herself beyond the shadow of her famous father, an award-winning and controversial film maker. Everything is perfect until the morning Alice arrives at work to find the gallery gone—the space stripped bare as if it had never existed—and Drew Campbell’s dead body on the floor. Overnight, Alice’s dream job has vanished, and she finds herself at the center of police attention with nothing to prove her innocence. The phone number Drew gave her links back to a disposable phone.The artist whose work she displayed doesn’t seem to exist. And the dead man she claims is Drew has been identified as someone else.When police discover ties between the gallery and a missing girl, Alice knows she’s been set up. Now she has to prove it—a dangerous search for answers that will entangle her in a dark, high-tech criminal conspiracy and force her to unearth long-hidden secrets involving her own family… secrets that could cost Alice her life.

Long Gone is Alafair Burke’s first stand-alone thriller that it has no trouble standing on its own two feet. It grabs you from the get go right up until its stunning conclusion. Just when you think you have it all figured out, another twist knocks you around and you need to rethink your previous conclusions. Ms. Burke has an inherent talent for bringing her readers right into the pages of the book, making you feel as if you are living the story along with Alice and everyone she comes into contact with. Long Gone is an engaging read, with a new protagonist you’ll enjoy getting to know and who you will continually root for, an interesting supporting cast of characters, each with their own six-degrees-of-separation connection to the murderer,and a multifaceted plot that constantly surprises the reader. Without a doubt, Long Gone should be on every mystery reader’s must-read list. An engrossing thriller that can hold its own against any other in its genre. 

Kiss Me Kill Me by Allison Brennan

KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE ….Lucy Kincaid has firsthand experience dealing with deadly criminal predators, and she’s fully prepared to share her many talents with the FBI. But when her career plans are derailed, her boyfriend, security expert Sean Rogan, asks for help on his latest private investigation. Using her well-honed cyber-hunting skills, Lucy is soon on the trail of a missing teenage girl with a penchant for disappearing—and a shocking secret life. FBI Agent Suzanne Madeaux is also tracking someone: a serial killer on the loose in New York City. Dubbed by the press the Cinderella Strangler, he cruises seamy underground sex parties, where drug-fueled women make for easy pickings. As Lucy and Sean’s desperate search collides with the FBI’s hunt, Lucy isn’t about to step aside. Haunted by painful memories of her own harrowing encounters with evil, she’s determined to keep any more innocents from meeting the fate she so narrowly escaped. Delving deep into the twisted psyche of a remorseless killer, Lucy must confront her own fears—even if it means risking a future job with the FBI and future happiness with Sean.

 One of the reasons I love Allison Brennan’s books so much is that she carries her characters over from book to book. While each trilogy may focus on one Kincaid or Rogan, all of the other family members are involved as well and you get to know their stories too as secondary characters. As you get to know each of these secondary characters you hope that Ms. Brennan will eventually give each of them the spotlight, give each their own book. She has done just that with this series (also see Love Me To Death). I love to see series that go on and on, book after book, and I love the way Ms. Brennan handles the Kincaid and Rogan families. The three-book arc gives us plenty of time to fall in love with each main character, to invest in their lives, without getting too sick of them. Characters that are not leads in one book are still mentioned, giving us a clue as to what they are up to now. Kiss Me, Kill Me is the perfect amount of romance mixed with the precise amount of suspense that come together to form one incredible romantic-suspense thriller. 

A Turn In The Road by Debbie Macomber 

In the middle of the year, in the middle of her life, Bethanne Hamlin takes a road trip with her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth.They’re driving to Florida for Ruth’s 50th high-school reunion. A longtime widow, Ruth would like to reconnect with Royce, the love of her teenage life. She’s heard he’s alone, too…and, well, she’s curious. Maybe even hopeful. Bethanne herself needs time to reï ¬ ‚ ect, to ponder a decision she has to make. Her ex-husband, Grant—her children’s father—wants to reconcile now that his second marriage has failed. Bethanne’s considering it….Meanwhile, Annie’s out to prove to her onetime boyfriend that she can live a brilliant life without him!So there they are, three women driving across America. They have their maps and their directions—but even the best-planned journey can take you to a turn in the road. Or lead you to an unexpected encounter—like the day Bethanne meets a man named Max who really is a hero on a Harley. That’s when Bethanne’s decision becomes a lot harder. Because Grant wants her back, but now there’s Max….From Seattle’s Blossom Street to the other end of the country, this is a trip that could change three women’s lives.

 A Turn in the Road is the story of three generations of women at a crossroads in their lives. Each one must take the road that will bring them to the place they want to be, the place that will bring them the happiness they so richly deserve. Can Ruth be forgiven for her past sin? Can Annie let go of a past love and make room in her heart for a new one? Will Bethanne choose between what is safe and familiar, or what she knows in her heart is her destiny? A Turn in the Road is touted as a “Blossom Street” book due to the fact that the main character is a part of the original books. As much as I enjoyed this book, and I fully understand the meaning behind the road trip, I wish it would have (or maybe future books will) taken us back to Blossom Street – literally. I would love to know, in more depth, how all of the other Blossom Street residents are doing, instead of the little snippets we get at the beginning of the book when Bethanne stops by A Good Yarn to pick up some yarn. The writing is strong, the story flows smoothly, and the characters could very well be your own mother, sister, or daughter. This is a beautiful story of good times spent with family, forgiveness, faith, and finding the love of your life no matter what age you are.

Until next month…….

Lori’s Book Sense

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Welcome to my first Lori’s Book Sense post.  I would like to thank the wonderful women of The Stiletto Gang for asking me to join them here each month. I’m honored!!  Each month I’ll share with you a few of my favorite reads from the previous month.  Since this is my first  month I’m going to post a few of my favorite all time reads. 

First I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself and how I got blogging.  For the past 14 years I’ve worked for my family business. I work with my father and two younger brothers. I have three beautiful nieces.  I just hit the big 4-0 and live with my Maltese puppy Sadie.

 I belonged to a book swapping site ~ www.paperbackswap.com. My friends started calling me “the book pimp” because my book recommendations would cause their wish lists to grow. Several of them started bugging me about doing a book blog. Eventually I gave in and it’s taken off.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would turn into the success it seems to have become. It actually boggles my mind at times.

Overkill by Joseph Teller (4th book in the Jaywalker series)

Harrison J. Walker—Jaywalker, to the world—is a frayed-at-the-edges defense attorney with a ninety-percent acquittal rate, thanks to an obsessive streak a mile wide. But winning this case will take more than just dedication.Seventeen-year-old Jeremy Estrada killed another boy after a fight over a girl: shot him point-blank between the eyes. No one disputes those facts. This kid is jammed up big-time, but almost unable to help himself. He’s got the face of an angel but can hardly string together three words to explain what happened that day…yet he’s determined to go to trial. All they’ve got is a “yesbut” defense, as in: “Did you kill him?” “Yes, but…” Jaywalker is accustomed to bending the rules—this case will stretch the law to the breaking point and beyond.

 Trust me, if I ever get into any sort of legal trouble Harrison J Walker (Jaywalker as he likes to be called) is the lawyer I’m going to call.  Overkill is the fourth in the Jaywalker series.  I stumbled on Mr. Teller’s first book a while back and was immediately taken in. Now I anxiously await each next book in the series! Jaywalker is dedicated, hard working, and loyal and determined to a fault. He goes after his cases with guns blaring. He will work himself to the bone, forsaking sleep and food if it means justice for his client.  Too often I find myself reading as fast as I can to find out just where he will take me, but then force myself to slow down so that I can savor every question, every thought, and every emotion. Overkill is a legal thriller on par with any John Grisham or Scott Turow I’ve read. You will marvel at his way with words, at his finesse in the courtroom and his skill when handling witnesses. You too will fall in love with Jaywalker.  

Motherhood is Murder by Diana Orgain

Nights out are hard to come by for new mommy Kate Connelly. So when Kate and her husband are invited to a dinner cruise hosted by her new mommy club, Roo & You, they jump at it. But when the president of the club takes a deadly spill, everyone becomes suspect-and Kate’s on deck to solve the mystery.

I adore Kate. She’s funny, charming, goofy, determined, and lovable. She has a husband who adores her and supports her 100%. Her “to do” lists are hysterical – right down to making sure she stops at the library to pick up her copy of The Dummies Guide to Private Investigating. She is head over heels in love with her 7 week old daughter Laurie, but at times feels like she’s not a good enough mother – she doesn’t know if Laurie can hold her head up at a 45 degree angle while having tummy time, she didn’t sign her up for swim classes while she was still pregnant with her and she doesn’t make home made baby food! But what Kate knows is that while all of that is great, what really matters is that she loves her daughter and after that everything else will fall into place. This is a great read for any mother or soon to be mom who is looking for something light and fun to read while the baby is napping or while awaiting its arrival. The discovery of the murderer and their reasons behind are a shocking twist that many won’t see coming. Motherhood Is Murder is a fun, fast, cozy read that will keep its readers entertained and anxiously awaiting the next installment. A must read.

Henry’s Sisters by Cathy Lamb

Ever since the Bommarito sisters were little girls, their mother, River, has written them a letter on pink paper when she has something especially important to impart. And this time, the message is urgent and impossible to ignore—River requires open-heart surgery, and Isabelle and her sisters are needed at home to run the family bakery and take care of their brother and ailing grandmother. Isabelle has worked hard to leave Trillium River, Oregon, behind as she travels the globe taking award-winning photographs. It’s not that Isabelle hates her family. On the contrary, she and her sisters Cecilia, an outspoken kindergarten teacher, and Janie, a bestselling author, share a deep, loving bond. And all of them adore their brother, Henry, whose disabilities haven’t stopped him from helping out at the bakery and bringing good cheer to everyone in town.But going home again has a way of forcing open the secrets and hurts that the Bommaritos would rather keep tightly closed—Isabelle’s fleeting and too-frequent relationships, Janie’s obsessive compulsive disorder, and Cecilia’s self-destructive streak and grief over her husband’s death. Working together to look after Henry and save their flagging bakery, Isabelle and her sisters begin to find answers to questions they never knew existed, unexpected ways to salve the wounds of their childhoods, and the courage to grasp surprising new chances at happiness.Poignant, funny, and as irresistible as one of the Bommarito sisters’ delicious giant cupcakes, Henry’s Sisters is a novel about family and forgiveness, about mothers and daughters, and about gaining the wisdom to look ahead while still holding tight to everything that matters most.

Will coming home to Trillium River be the wake up call that this family needs? Will they be able to finally deal with the trauma’s of their lives and finally find peace and happiness? Will they once and for all get the answers that they’ve unknowingly been searching for? But just when things seem as if they are finally turning around they get the most crushing, heart breaking news they could ever get. They are faced with something that they are not willing to deal with and could very well destroy any of the progress that they’ve made. It is now time for them to put everything else aside and come together as a family.

A beautifully written tale of one families struggles and triumphs. Of how they overcome adversity and figure out a way to move on with their lives. Of how to love and trust again. Of forgiveness and family. Full of laugh out loud moments and heartbreaking scenes, scenes that will have you crying as you read them, Henry’s Sisters is one story that you will regret not reading.