Chick Lit

THE CAT, THE MILL, AND THE MURDERA Cats In Trouble MysteryBY LEANN SWEENEYABOUT THE BOOK:When cat lover and quilter Jillian Hart volunteers to help a local animal shelter relocate a colony of feral cats living in an abandoned textile mill, she never expects to find a woman living there, too. Jeannie went missing from Mercy, South Carolina, a decade ago, after her own daughter’s disappearance. Jeannie refuses to leave the mill or abandon Boots, her cat who died years ago. After all, she and Boots feel the need to protect the premises from “creepers” who come in the night. After Jeannie is hurt in an accident and is taken away, those who’ve come to town to help repurpose the mill uncover a terrible discovery.. As the wheels start turning in Jillian’s mind, a mysterious new feline friend aids in her quest to unearth a long-kept and dark secret. ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Leann Sweeney was born and raised in Niagara Falls and educated at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Lemoyne College in Syracuse, NY. She also has a degree from the University of Houston in Behavioral Science and worked in psychiatry. Currently a school nurse, she has been writing in the mystery genre for many years. Leann is married with two grown children and has lived in Texas for most of her adult life. She resides in Friendswood with husband Mike, her three cats and a geriatric dog.SOME OTHER BOOKS BY LEANN SWEENEY: GIVEAWAYTHANKS TO KAYLEIGH AND THE GOOD FOLKSAT OBSIDIAN AND PENGUIN BOOKS,I HAVE ONE COPY OF THE CAT, THE MILL, AND THE MURDER,TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY READER --U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY --NO P. O. BOXES---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSIN CASE YOU WIN!--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE! HOW TO ENTER: +1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT THE CAT, THE MILL, AND THE MURDER THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING AT LEANN SWEENEY'S WEBSITE HERE +1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU CAN COMMENT SEPARATELY AND EACH WILL COUNT AS AN ENTRY +1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON A CURRENT GIVEAWAY THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY FOR EACH TO RECEIVE MORE ENTRIES GIVEAWAY ENDS AT 6 PM, EST, JUNE 4 GOOD LUCK!As required by the FCC: I received one copy of this book/item in order to write my review. I received no monetary compensation for this review. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are mine alone. This post and all images contained herein are © 2010 BOOKIN' WITH BINGO's Book Blog. All Rights Reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than BOOKIN' WITH BINGO's Book Blog or its RSS feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is being used without permission.

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted at The Broke and the BookishPresented without comment, because a picture speaks a . . . well, you know what I mean.

It doesn't happen very often in life, that utterly unexpected sequel that drops in your lap years after the original book came out. Most of the time, you discover series you love and blow through them at lightning speed and then are left to pick up the shattered pieces of yourself when the whole glorious thing is over. Or you stumble across gold with the very first book and are forced to not-so-patiently wait one year (or more) for each new installment. But occasionally an author hits you with one out of left field. I first read and adored A Certain Slant of Light not too long after it was published in 2006. It felt like a perfectly contained standalone novel to me at the time. And it still is. If you only read that one, you will be left content. But there are a couple of . . . I hesitate to call them side characters . . . that you certainly would not object to spending more time with, if you know what I mean (series addicts: I know you know what I mean.) So when I discovered that Laura Whitcomb was writing a companion novel (sequel of sorts) told from one of those character's perspectives, well. I was more than okay with it.Jenny is not okay. Having returned to her body after unexpectedly vacating it for a period of time, she has no real recollection of what happened in the interim. All she knows is that she was . . . gone . . . for awhile. And when she came back, there was a boy who seemed to know her but not know her. Billy held in his hand a Polaroid of the two of them together. They looked happy. They looked like they belonged together. And yet Jenny and Billy do not know each other. They don't have the kind of shared memories that the photograph suggests. Instead, what they have is a disturbingly similar (if different in the details) history of shame, painful family issues, and a longing for escape. And, as it turns out, Billy was gone for awhile, too. What they begin to discover is that a fair bit happened while they were away. And one of the presences involved is not through involving herself in their lives. Meanwhile, real life has gone on around them. Jenny's father has moved out and is threatening (as he always has) to control everything about her life. Billy's brother is suspicious (as he always is) of his little brother's activities. The two lost teens attempt to get to know one another and, perhaps, puzzle out their bizarre connection. But it seems the ramifications of the events they have no memory of will impede their fledgling attempts and impact their presents in very real and unsettling ways.And that's where every ghost story begins, with a death.Laura Whitcomb uses all her words and that is all there is to it. It was so comforting (and not a little emotional) to be back inside the beautiful canopy of language she creates. Somehow she manages to return us to that absolutely unique atmosphere evoked in A Certain Slant of Light, and it is as though we were never away. Helen is a point of view character this time around as well, and it was easy to fall back into the cadence of her thoughts. But since I felt her story resolved nicely in the last book, Jenny was the one I really wanted to be with. So it proved to be somewhat of a distraction when Helen's presence in the story occasionally threatened to overwhelm Jenny's. I fully understood her preoccupation with Jenny's fate, but I could have done with a little less from her directly. Because when Helen fades into the background and allows us an unfettered view of Jenny and Billy together . . . it is magnetic. As in the final chapter of A Certain Slant of Light, the bond between these two is breathtakingly tentative. I would have followed them anywhere they wanted to go. And Whitcomb does take them places, beyond the boundaries of time and space, in fact. A favorite passage that takes place fairly early on and far, far away:He lifted his foot and rested it over my ankle, gently pinning me down.Then he pointed into the heavens. "Want to go there?""Where?""That sta

Please join Joanna Hershon, author of A Dual Inheritance, as she tours the blogosphere with TLC Book Tours. Enter to win a copy below – open to US only. Reviewed by Jax Kepple Spanning the course of fifty years, A Dual Inheritance covers jealousy, wealth, love, longing, family and friendship as it affects the lives of first Ed Cantowitz and Hugh Shipley, and then their daughters Rebecca and Vivi. Author Joanna Hershon sets up the story right at the moment Ed and Hugh meet, and the story progresses chronologically through the ups and downs of their lives in the early 1970s, and then switches over to the entwined lives of their daughters, who meet at boarding school and bring the story up to present day. When Ed and Hugh meet at Harvard while they are undergrads, they quickly become friends; the perfect compliments to each other. Hugh comes from old money, and his future is planned out for him but he can’t deny that deep down he wants to do more with his life. So he goes to Africa to start medical clinics and along the way marries his high school sweetheart, Helen. Ed has always resented and is extremely jealous of old wealth and how Hugh always has had everything given to him so easily, and decides to do whatever it takes to achieve immense wealth. After going to Helen’s parents’ house for a weekend getaway, Ed meets Helen’s father, who offers him a summer job and Ed begins his high profile career on Wall Street. After a chance encounter with Helen before she is due to leave for Africa, Ed becomes very bitter about everything and cuts Hugh and Helen off. He winds up marrying another motivated, high achieving woman, Jill, and together they become a New York City power couple. Vivi and Rebecca’s story is not as intense until after an existential crisis that leads Rebecca to quit her job and break up with her boyfriend. Suddenly, Rebecca finds herself in Africa alone with Hugh and has an epiphany. I felt as though Vivi’s character was a tad underdeveloped, and she was clearly the least likable out of everyone, even though Hugh and Ed do some very questionable things. I liked how, while Rebecca and Vivi both portrayed aspects of their fathers, they were able to get past it and form a lasting friendship. I truly enjoyed Hershon’s writing style – she is able to convey what each character is thinking and their motivations without being too simplistic. The story was a bit unpredictable but had a satisfying ending, after each character has gone through the ringer, personally and professionally. The result is a rich, layered story about how life is imperfect but it’s important to keep those you care about close. Rating: ★★★★½ Jax is in an accountant at a hedge fund. She resides in NYC with her husband. Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Ballantine Books. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received. a Rafflecopter giveaway Pin It

Rating: 4/5 Publish Date: December 24, 2012 Origins: Purchased Format: Trade Paperback Order From: Amazon Synopsis: INSATIABLE is the third novel in Emily Kimelman's best selling, award winning Sydney Rye Series of dark murder mysteries. This series feature a strong female protagonist and her canine best friend. It is recommended for the 18+ who enjoy some violence, don't mind dirty language, and are up for a dash of sex. Not to mention an awesome, rollicking good mystery!INSATIABLE begins with private detective Sydney Rye living a simple, disciplined life in London, but when a dangerous man from her past calls, Rye finds she cannot turn him away. Robert Maxim explains that the daughter of a powerful friend has gone missing and he wants Rye to find her. In exchange he offers her something she had given up hope of ever having; freedom from her past.With her dog, Blue, at her side, Rye meets up with her new partner, a handsome man she's not sure she can trust. Heading for Mexico City, they go undercover, posing as husband and wife. After meeting with the bereaved parents, Rye starts to sense that there is more going on than just a missing girl. But it isn't until they arrive in the Yucatan Peninsula, hot on the girl's trail in Paradise, that all hell breaks loose. Sydney has to reach out for help from old friends and deal with the consequences of her past, if she's going to find the girl and keep them all alive. Review: Sydney Rye is enjoying a relatively quiet time with Carlos in London when she get a call from Bobby Maxim. Bobby’s firm set Joy up as Sydney and as such, Bobby’s calling in his marker. He’s sending her to Mexico City along with his operative, Blane Nichols, to find a missing girl. Not just any missing girl, but Ana Maria Hernandez Vargas, the daughter of two pretty powerful and wealthy people. Sydney quickly learns things aren’t as clean-cut as they seem as she’s forced to call on friends and strangers for support. Can Sydney find the girl and the truth before it’s too late for herself and the others?‘Insatiable’ is the 3rd book in the Sydney Rye series and they keep getting better! The character development and the vivid descriptions of the locales draw readers in quickly to the action. I do believe it is best to read the first two books in this series prior to ‘Insatiable’, as the books are the ongoing events in Sydney’s life. I think this is the book where Sydney truly accepts her old life is over and sheds it as she’s neck deep in the situation she’s thrown into. I don’t want to get into too much detail for fear of spoiling the shocking twists Ms. Kimelman has given Sydney. I’m very impressed with the growth of both the author and Sydney throughout this series! Sydney Rye Series: Unleashed (1), Death in the Dark (2), Insatiable (3) Author Website Author Twitter

Title: The Hazards of Skinny Dipping (Goodreads) Publisher: Self-Published Source: Inkslinger PR Publication Date: 21 May 2013 Series or Standalone: Standalone ISBN: 9781484044179 Format: ebook (ARC) Pages: 305 The Author on the Web: Alyssa Rose Ivy - Official Site Alyssa Rose Ivy - Blog Alyssa Rose Ivy - Twitter Place(s) Traveled to: Kiawah, South Carolina // Charleston, South Carolina // Savannah, Georgia // West Ashley, South Carolina Rating: 3 out of 5 stars First Line: Skinny dipping was the last thing on my list. I had a really hard time getting into The Hazards of Skinny Dipping by Alyssa Rose Ivy and this made me sad as I really enjoyed her Clayton Falls series. I just couldn't connect with the main character, Juliet, who flitted between a TSTL character to one that just needed a b!tch slap as she was so annoying. The dialogue in the early part of the book was also off putting as it was stilted and read more as an early draft of a first novel and not by an experienced author. There were several times when I was ready to just give up on this one but I kept with it since I am part of her Release Day Blitz and Blog Tour. While the beginning of the book may not of thrilled me there was this shift in tone and writing somewhere in the middle and I became invested in the story. I liked Juliet a little better though she's still not my favorite character in the book. I also would have liked to see a bit more from her friends, Cara and Mallory, and even her roommate but maybe those stories will be told in future books that Alyssa Rose Ivy writes. After all, to be part of a series is more the norm than a stand alone book these days. Another thing I liked is that the character that Juliet obsessed over was far from perfect. Not only was he your typical douche love interest character. You know the one, the guy that the MC seems to love and yet the reader knows is bad news and keeps mentally telling the character so? Well, that is Dylan. But he's popular and handsome and just seems to have everything only the thing that you think would be super wonderful is far from it. Juliet is then torn between living her dream and dealing with the harsh realities of the world. Then there are two other boys who also like Juliet and while both have cookie cutter good guy potential they too exhibit flaws that help to humanize them. As a reader, you are torn at times between these two but you know in the end that there is only one choice. For me, this book was made with the last half of the story. There was tension, drama, and even a few heart achy moments. And you know how much I love my heart achy moments! While Hazards of Skinny Dipping had a rocky start for me I did enjoy how it ended. I'm glad that I decided not to DNF this one because then I would have missed some fun moments in this story. If I could cut out or revise the first part of the book I would as the second half was just so much better in every way. The writing and the dialogue all just seemed to pop more. Skinny Dipping is flawed in places but I don't feel like my time was wasted with the read, or at least, it wasn't once I got into the story. a Rafflecopter giveaway The Hazards of Skinny Dipping This isn't a deep book about first loves or self-discovery. If you want a book like that, I'd be happy to recommend one, but I don't have that kind of story to tell. Instead my story is about rash decisions and finding out that your dream guy is bad in bed. It's the story of when I finally went skinny dipping, and how my life was never the same again. Oh, and it's also the story of my freshman year of college and realizing Mr. Right might have been there all along. Author Bio: Alyssa Rose Ivy is a New Adult and Young Adult author who loves to weave stories with romance and a southern setting. Although raised in the New York area, she fell in love with the South after mo

Got water? Oops - Lu stole it. Sorry.

Top Tuesday Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! Top Ten Book Covers I Love (from books I’ve read) Related Posts: No Related Posts 3 comment(s) for this post: Melissa @ Harley Bear Book Blog: 21 May 2013 I have My Life Next Door on my list too. It just looks like the perfect summer read doesn't it! Great list! Alice @ Alice in Readerland: 21 May 2013 I love the new cover for Keeping the Moon, it's so pretty! :) My TTT list: http://aliceinreaderland.com/2013/05/20/bookcovers/ Alice @ Alice in Readerland Kristin: 21 May 2013 All beautiful covers! I love all over Sarah Dessen's new covers! Write a quick commentThe post Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers I Love appeared first on Chick Loves Lit.

Well, I thought that I was ready to jump back into blogging and reviewing again, but I have discovered that I am not. I have in the past few weeks contemplated setting the blog aside permanently, which has never crossed my mind before. Honestly, the idea of walking away from the blog is incredibly appealing right now. It’s not like I’m going to stop reading, but I just am not in a place where I am willing to put in the work needed to write and post reviews at this point in time.Rather than make a rash decision though, I have decided to take a break for the summer and then re-evaluate in the fall.In the meantime, I need to find someone who is interested in taking over hosting the Saturday Snapshot series. If no one is interested in hosting it then I will shut it down until further notice as well.If you want to keep up with me this summer I might be posting occasional updates on Facebook, Twitter and/or Goodreads.© 2013, At Home With Books. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, May 28: Introductions and/or ClassicsWe kick off the week by starting with introductions of ourselves. Last year, we changed things up by having everyone answer questions from a pre-determined list. It was such a hit, that we are doing it again. The questions and more information will be posted in the weeks leading up to the event, so you can plan accordingly.Credit: SalonOur first genre discussion will revolve around classic literature. Ideas for discussion include a list of your favorite classics, books you would recommend to a non-classic believer, or even what draws you to keep reading those classics over and over again!Wednesday, May 29: Blogger Development and/or Genre FictionDay 2 we talk about how we develop ourselves as bloggers. Have you branched out into your community? Do you partner with other bloggers? Have you gone "pro" or begun supplementing your income through your blog? Are you a long-term blogger, and how has your online personality developed over the years? These are simply ideas. Think development and tell us what comes to mind.The book-ish focus will be genre fiction. What draws you to a specific genre? Do vampires, zombies, or witches float your boat? Or, do you prefer the heat of romance? Recommend your favorite genres and/or books and help build reader TBR shelves a bit more!Thursday, May 30: Giveaways and/or Literature We take a break from official discussions on Thursday to allow participants to hop around the web and enter blogger-hosted giveaways! Start planning your giveaway now!The genre of discussion is general literary fiction. Which works of art have changed your life? Be creative and make a list outlining books featuring specific subjects (i.e., animals, recommended prize-winners, outstanding authors, etc.).Friday, May 31: Ethics and/or Non-FictionWe get back into discussions on Friday with the heavy topic of ethics. Do you have recommendations to new bloggers to ensure credit is given to whom/where credit is due? Have you had an experience with plagiarism? How did you deal with it? What are the guidelines as bloggers that we must follow?We bridge the genre gap from fiction to all things non-fiction. Do you read non-fiction? Why or why not? Is there a specific type of non-fiction that you prefer to read (i.e., historical, true crime, memoirs, biographies, etc.)? What is the perfect book for a first-time non-fiction reader?Saturday, June 1: Keeping it Real and/or Children's/Young Adult LiteratureWhat exactly does "keeping it real" mean? The meaning lays in keeping. How do you not only grow an audience, but how do you keep them coming back for more? If you have been around for years, how do you keep your material fresh? How do you continue to keep blogging fun?Our final genre focuses on the younger crowd: children's picture books and young adult literature and everything in between. What are the top 5 (or more) books that every child should have on his shelf? If you are an adult who reads YA, why do you keep going back for more? If you are not a reader of these books, think back to your childhood and share your favorites from your younger years.Sunday, June 2: Armchair BEA Wrap-UpOn this final day, we encourage you to wrap-up the week with your favorites and highlights of the week. Did you learn something new? Did you connect with a new-to-you blogger? What was your favorite discussion topic? Do you have ideas for future years? You can write your own blog post and link it up, but we also encourage you to take our end-of-event survey.If you are interested, click here for Armchair BEA registration. If you wonder who else is doing this, click here for the list of participants for 2013. According to the comments here, they'll publish questions on the Armchair BEA blog "prior to the week of the event."