Book Review: The Song of the Jade Lily by Kirsty Manning 

The Song of the Jade Lily

by Kirsty Manning 

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU / B&N

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (May 14, 2019)

“Kirsty Manning weaves together little-known threads of World War II history, family secrets, the past and the present into a page-turning, beautiful novel.”— Heather Morris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

A gripping historical novel that tells the little-known story of Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai during WWII.

1939: Two young girls meet in Shanghai, also known as the “Paris of the East”. Beautiful local Li and Jewish refugee Romy form a fierce friendship, but the deepening shadows of World War II fall over the women as they slip between the city’s glamorous French Concession district and the teeming streets of the Shanghai Ghetto. Yet soon the realities of war prove to be too much for these close friends as they are torn apart.

2016: Fleeing London with a broken heart, Alexandra returns to Australia to be with her grandparents, Romy and Wilhelm. Her grandfather is dying, and over the coming weeks, Romy and Wilhelm begin to reveal the family mysteries they have kept secret for more than half a century. As fragments of her mother’s history finally become clear, Alexandra struggles with what she learns while more is also revealed about her grandmother’s own past in Shanghai.

After Wilhelm dies, Alexandra flies to Shanghai, determined to trace her grandparents’ past. Peeling back the layers of their hidden lives, she is forced to question what she knows about her family—and herself.

The Song of the Jade Lily is a lush, provocative, and beautiful story of friendship, motherhood, the price of love, and the power of hardship and courage that can shape us all.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Alexandra spent most of her time with men on the trading desks, who walked around the office with their jaws clenched, veins pulsing at their temples. They smelled of adrenaline, expensive aftershave, and fear.

 

Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.

 

My Review:

 

This beautifully written and masterfully crafted book turned me inside out and took my breath away. The writing was elegant, lavishly detailed, evocative, and a feast for the senses with frequent tantalizing descriptions of exotic locales and delicious and foods and spices that kept my hunger on edge and eventually devastated my dieting efforts.

 

The premise and storylines were a fascinating combination of fact and fiction. Ms. Manning’s prose was eloquent and well-textured, complex and multi-layered, thoughtfully observant, and haunting. Her tender touches and emotive insights often stung my eyes and burned my throat. I have never been to Shanghai and had no idea of the unusual population and history or that it had become somewhat of a haven for stateless refugees, an unusual issue and term I was also unfamiliar with.

 

The characters were compelling and endearing, and their precarious and tenuous positions often left them a heartbeat away from exposure; I felt their tension and reveled in their successes and joys. Their profound experiences were intensely moving and will definitely resonate within me for quite some time.  I was provided with a review copy of this enthralling book by HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours. 

About the Author

Kirsty Manning grew up in northern New South Wales, Australia. She has degrees in literature and communications and worked as an editor and publishing manager in book publishing for over a decade. A country girl with wanderlust, her travels and studies have taken her through most of Europe, the east, and west coasts of the United States as well as pockets of Asia. Kirsty’s journalism and photography specializing in lifestyle and travel regularly appear in magazines, newspapers, and online. She lives in Australia.

Find out more about Kirsty at her website, and connect with her on TwitterInstagram, and Facebook.

Book Review: She’s Like The Wind by Carrie Elks

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Title: She’s Like The Wind
Author: Carrie Elks
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 16, 2019
Cover Designed: Najla Qamber

He’d be a fool to fall for his long-legged, barefoot employee. But bad decisions have never stopped him before…

Successful businessman and single father, Nate Crawford, doesn’t need any more complications. That’s why he’s moved his business – and his life – to a small beach town. He’s expecting sun, sea, and tranquility, but what he gets is a whirlwind in the form of town sweetheart, Ally Sutton.

Ally’s used to dealing with heartache. But losing the café she’s owned for years is the final straw. Being offered a new job feels like a lifeline – that is until she meets her much-older and impossibly handsome new boss.

In the space of a few weeks, everything changes. And when an accident forces them closer, Nate and Ally can’t ignore the fascination between them any longer. But neither of them are ready for the storm they’re about to unleash.

**She’s Like the Wind is the second book in the Angel Sands series, set in a small beach town on the California coast. If you like a heartwarming read that’s low on angst and big on feels, this stand-alone romance is for you.**

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“If I kiss you will you shut up?” Ally’s mouth dropped open and she stared at him with those big blues. “Probably not. But you should do it anyway.”

 

Gossip moved faster than the speed of light in Angel Sands… Having social media was pointless around here. By the time you opened your phone up to look, all the news was old.

 

 My Review:

 

This engaging book had all the feels and a bit of everything including a fresh start for several, a new relationship for the main characters, sensual sizzle, loads family drama, small-town quirks, relatable characters, easy humor, and a mercurial and obnoxious teenager. And all of that was well packaged within several eventful yet easy to follow and entertaining storylines. I adored this couple and am eagerly looking forward to the next in the series, which was promised to arrive in a few months time.

 

 


Excerpt

 

Ally bit down a smile and looked at Nate, who was still hovering in the doorway.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to paint my nails. I can probably manage if I bend over enough.”

He looked at the bottle Riley had shoved in his hands. “It’s a nice color.”

“Riley chose it.”

He took a step inside then hesitated, looking over at Ally. “Is it okay if I come in?” he asked.

“Of course it is. It’s your house.”

“But it’s your room.”

His words made her feel warm. As though she finally belonged somewhere.

“Come in. It’s nice to have the company.”

He walked up to the bed, and looked down at her feet. “Let’s do this thing,” he said, sitting down in the space his daughter had vacated. “I don’t want to incur the wrath of Riley.”

“Do you even know how to paint nails?” Ally asked, trying to keep her voice even. It felt so intimate, having him here in the room when she was wearing only a tank and sleep shorts. God only knew how much more intimate it would feel once he touched her.

And if he painted her toes, he’d definitely have to touch her.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carrie Elks Headshot

Carrie Elks writes contemporary romance with a sizzling edge. Her first book, Fix You, has been translated into eight languages and made a surprise appearance on Big Brother in Brazil. Luckily for her, it wasn’t voted out. Carrie lives with her husband, two lovely children and a larger-than-life black pug called Plato. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found baking, drinking an occasional (!) glass of wine, or chatting on social media.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CarrieElksAuthor/

FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CarrieElksWaterCooler/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/CarrieElks

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/carrie.elks/

NEWSLETTER: http://www.subscribepage.com/e4u8i8

WEBSITE: https://carrieelks.com

Book Review: You, Me, And The Sea by Meg Donohue

You, Me, And The Sea

by Meg Donohue

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

 B&N / HarperCollins

Hardcover: 368 pages

Publisher: William Morrow (May 7, 2019)

From the USA Today bestselling author of All the Summer Girls and Dog Crazy comes a spellbinding and suspenseful tale inspired by Wuthering Heights that illuminates the ways in which hope—and even magic—can blossom in the darkest of places.

To find her way, she must abandon everything she loves…

As a child, Merrow Shawe believes she is born of the sea: strong, joyous, and wild. Her beloved home is Horseshoe Cliff, a small farm on the coast of Northern California where she spends her days exploring fog-cloaked bluffs, swimming in the cove, and basking in the light of golden sunsets as her father entertains her with fantastical stories. It is an enchanting childhood, but it is not without hardship—the mystery of Merrow’s mother’s death haunts her, as does the increasingly senseless cruelty of her older brother, Bear.

Then, like sea glass carried from a distant land, Amir arrives in Merrow’s life. He’s been tossed about from India to New York City and now to Horseshoe Cliff, to stay with her family. Merrow is immediately drawn to his spirit, his passion, and his resilience in the face of Bear’s viciousness. Together they embrace their love of the sea, and their growing love for each other.

But the ocean holds secrets in its darkest depths. When tragedy strikes, Merrow is forced to question whether Amir is really the person she believed him to be. In order to escape the danger she finds herself in and find her own path forward, she must let go of the only home she’s ever known, and the only boy she’s ever loved….

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

His stories made it seem as though the past was something I could step into, like a room in the house that was always there, its door unlocked by a combination of words.

 

This fear did not feel like the sort of thing that came and went; it felt like something that was meant to last, like a rope with a double knot.

 

His accent made his words sound even and pure. It reminded me of rain falling into a half-full barrel.

 

He tried very hard not to reveal the details of your file to me, but I’ve cracked tougher nuts on Christmas Eve.

 

No one had ever spoken to me as Rosalie had— and yet, what exactly had she been trying to tell me? Her words were a gift that I could hold but not yet unwrap.

 

I wish I were as proud of my finest moments as I am ashamed of my mistakes.

 

My Review:

 

Meg Donohue has turned out a beautifully written, lushly and evocatively detailed and heart-rending book that was swirling with atmosphere and sea mist. I was captivated, devastated, and engrossed from beginning to end. Written in the first person POV of Merrow, an adult woman at a significant crossroads and recalling her childhood, which was peppered with a love of the land and ocean yet heartbreaking and cringe-worthy with unpredictable violence, humiliation, intentional neglect, and vicious cruelty perpetrated by her older brother upon her and her best friend, an orphaned boy of the same age who had come to live with her family as her father’s ward. The family was rather isolated and lived like hillbillies in a small rustic cabin in a small rural yet coastal area of California.

 

Ms. Donohue’s emotive writing was insightfully observant, deviously paced, and conjured vivid visuals that rolled smoothly through my gray matter while squeezing my coronary muscle, stealing my breath, and stinging my eyes. A Five-Star rating feels paltry and nowhere near enough to rate the superlative quality of this compelling tale.  I was provided with a review copy of this divinely written book by HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours. 

About the Author

Meg Donohue is the USA Today bestselling author of How to Eat a Cupcake, All the Summer Girls, and Dog Crazy. She has an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University and a BA in comparative literature from Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband, three children, and dog.

Find out more at her website, and connect with her on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.

Book Review: Rough and Deadly (A Much Winchmoor Mystery Book 2) by Paula Williams

Rough and Deadly

(A Much Winchmoor Mystery Book 2)

by Paula Williams

 

Amazon 

 

Everyone knows Abe Compton’s Headbender cider is as rough as a cider can get. But is it deadly?

When self-styled ‘lady of the manor’, Margot Duckett-Trimble, announces she wouldn’t be seen dead drinking the stuff, who could have foreseen that, only a few days later, she’d be found, face down, in a vat of it?

Kat Latcham’s no stranger to murder. Indeed, the once ‘sleepy’ Somerset village of Much Winchmoor is fast gaining a reputation as the murder capital of the West Country and is ‘as sleepy as a kid on Christmas Eve’ when it’s discovered there’s a murderer running loose in the community again.

Kat has known Abe all her life, and she is sure that, although he had motive, he didn’t kill Margot. But as she investigates, the murderer strikes again. And the closer Kat gets to finding out who the real killer is, the closer to danger she becomes.

This second Much Winchmoor mystery is once again spiked with humor and sprinkled with romance – plus a cast of colorful characters, including a manic little dog called Prescott whose bite is definitely worse than his bark.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I’m parched and it doesn’t do for people of my age to get de-hibernated.

 

She gave a small, tinkly and oh-so-feminine laugh. How did she do that? If I tried it, it would come out as somewhere between a hiccup and a sneeze.

 

I kid you not, if someone sneezed at one end of the village, someone at the other end would hear it and speculate as to what they’d been doing to catch a cold, where, and with whom.

 

He was a short, dapper little man, who looked more like a bank manager than a policeman. The sort of bank manager who would take great pleasure in calling in your overdraft.

 

She’s also got a new coffee machine – that she has no idea how to work – even though she thinks coffee is the drink of the devil and it gives her ‘paltry-patians’.

 

 My Review:

 

While a continuation of a series and picked up shortly after the first book Murder Served Cold ended, it did not appear necessary to have read the previous book as the story had strong legs and could dance well enough on its own. Although, it was an amusing and fun read and I’d recommend reading it anyway. The storylines were highly amusing, pleasantly entertaining, and contained several interesting unrelated yet clever twists along with an unpredictable and well-plotted mystery.

Katie was still ensconced in her childhood bedroom within her parents’ home; still struggling to find full-time employment; still deeply in debt after her louse of a boyfriend took off with her car, money, and Dr. Who swag; and after crashing her mother’s car, her transportation was limited to a pink bike she’d received on her thirteenth birthday. Her dad was eager for her luck to improve as he had plans for her room that involved a snooker table.

Unable to find a full-time job, Katie was taking on small jobs to at least make payments on her looming overdraft, and one such position was as a helper to the injured elderly Elsie who appeared to be the town’s epicenter of information and gossip, the crankiest of residents, and the owner of Prescott – the most annoying and yappiest of little dogs.

This tiny village hosted a bevy of the quirk and was a hotbed of gossip. Adding to the mix and delighting the residents with something new to speculate about was the arrival of Katie’s rather vile Aunty Tanya, an opportunistic and pink obsessed drama queen who apparently enjoyed blackmail, stirring up trouble, a lavish lifestyle, gross exaggeration, and who somewhat resembled and dressed like a skinny Dolly Parton with a deflated chest.

After indulging in several tense thrillers, I enjoyed the generous dollops of humor and snickered and smirked my way through this delightful tale.   I also scored three new additions to my Brit Word List with po-faced – which is a solemn facial expression; trolleyed – drunk; and she’s no better than she should be – a woman with loose morals. I’m not sure about the last one but I’d much rather be trolleyed than po-faced.

About the Author

Paula Williams is living her dream. She’s written all her life – her earliest efforts involved blackmailing her unfortunate younger brothers into appearing in her plays and pageants. But it’s only in recent years that she discovered to her surprise that people with better judgment than her brothers actually liked what she wrote and were prepared to pay her for it.

Now, she writes every day in a lovely, book-lined study in her home in Somerset, where she lives with her husband and a handsome but not always obedient rescue Dalmatian called Duke. She started out writing fiction for women’s magazines (and still does) but has recently branched out into longer fiction. She also writes a monthly column, Ideas Store, for the writers’ magazines, Writers’ Forum.

But, as with the best of dreams, she worries that one day she’s going to wake up and find she still has to bully her brothers into reading ‘the play what she wrote’.

Social Media Links 

Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/paula.williams.author

Blog. paulawilliamswriter.wordpress.com

Twitter. @paulawilliams44

Website. paulawilliamswriter.co.uk

 

Book Review: The Shadow Writer by Eliza Maxwell

The Shadow Writer

by Eliza Maxwell

AmazonUS / UK / AU / CA / B&N

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (May 1, 2019)

Every writer has a story. Some are deadlier than others.

Aspiring author Graye Templeton will do anything to escape the horrific childhood crime that haunts her. After a life lived in shadows, she’s accepted a new job as protégé to Laura West, influential book blogger and wife of an acclaimed novelist. Laura’s connections could make Graye’s publishing dreams a reality. But there’s more to Laura than meets the eye.

Behind the veneer of a charmed life, Laura’s marriage is collapsing. Her once-lauded husband is descending into alcoholism and ruin and bringing Laura nearer to the edge.

As the two women form a bond that seems meant to be, long-buried secrets claw their way into the present, and the line between friendship and obsession begins to blur, forcing each to decide where her loyalties lie. Running from the past is a dangerous game, and the loser could end up dead.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She signs the visitor’s log, and the receptionist passes her a neon-green sticker to affix to her shirt. Proof that Graye isn’t some rogue criminal, there to ravish old ladies and steal pieces from the jigsaw puzzles.

 

She stares at him for a beat, struggling to remind herself of the man she knows he can be—when he isn’t being this one. It’s getting more difficult every day to bring that man to mind.

 

Whom you choose to be married to is your business, Laura. I decided a long time ago that love must be an evolutionary adaptation… It’s nature’s way of allowing even mediocre men to find a mate… Oh, child. How naive you are…   If procreation were reserved only for extraordinary men, the species would have died a slow, sputtering death centuries ago.

 

A bad marriage is a forge. Once you’re in it, your only choice is to push forward and find your way out of the flames, scars and all, hopefully stronger for it… The alternative is to sit there and be burned to nothing.

 

She knows dwelling on could-have-been and should-have-been doesn’t change what is, but some days that’s a hard lesson to remember.

 

My Review:

 

This was a twisty, maddeningly paced, brilliantly plotted, and ingeniously written tale with a cast of intriguing and largely aberrant characters. While it was soon evident that one of the main characters was mentally disturbed as she noted concern with “losing track of what’s real and what isn’t;” I just hadn’t realized the extent or how far back the decimation went. Ms. Maxwell’s evocative writing was uniquely compelling, devastating, diabolical, and dauntingly engrossing. I was taut with tension and transfixed to my Kindle while nearly insane with impatience and driven to know every deeply buried secret past and present.   I am on the hook and her devoted fangirl for life. I covet her advanced level of word sorcery and am greedily plotting to read her every word.

About the Author

Eliza Maxwell is the author of The Widow’s WatcherThe Unremembered GirlThe Grave Tender, and The Kinfolk. She writes fiction from her home in Texas, which she shares with her ever-patient husband, two impatient kids, a ridiculous English setter, and a bird named Sarah. An artist and writer, a dedicated introvert, and a British-cop-drama addict, she enjoys nothing more than sitting on the front porch with a good cup of coffee.

Connect with Eliza

Website | FacebookInstagram

Book Review: The Daughter’s Tale by Armando Lucas Correa

The Daughter’s Tale

by Armando Lucas Correa

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

Hardcover: 320 Pages

Publisher: Atria Books (May 7, 2019)

Berlin, 1939. Bookseller Amanda Sternberg and her husband, Julius, dreamed of blissful summers spent by the lake at Wannsee and unlimited opportunities for their children. But that all falls apart when the family bookshop is destroyed and Julius is sent to a concentration camp. Now, desperate to flee Nazi Germany and preserve what’s left of her family, Amanda heads toward the south of France with her two young daughters—only to arrive with one. In Haute-Vienne, their freedom is short-lived, and soon she and her eldest daughter are forced into a labor camp, where Amanda must once again make an impossible sacrifice.

New York City, 2015. Eighty-year-old Elise Duval receives a call from a woman bearing messages from a time and country that she forced herself to forget. A French Catholic who arrived in New York after World War II, Elise is shocked to discover that the letters were from her mother, written in German during the war. Despite Elise’s best efforts to stave off her past, seven decades of secrets begin to unravel.

Based on true events, The Daughter’s Tale chronicles one of the most harrowing atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II. Heartbreaking and immersive, it is a beautifully crafted family saga of love, survival, and redemption.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Elise tried to stand up but could feel her heart failing her. She was losing control over herself, over the life she had so carefully constructed. She could see her own face at a distance, staring at the scene from afar like another witness in the room.

 

Since his schooldays in Leipzig, Julius had been fascinated by the heart—its irregular rhythms, its electrical impulses, its alternating beats, and silences. “There’s nothing stronger,” he told her when they were newlywed and he was still at the university, always adding the caveat: “The heart can resist all kinds of physical trauma, but sadness can destroy it in a second. So no sadness in this house!”

 

Whenever you’re afraid and can feel your heart racing, start counting its beats. Count them and think of each one, because you’re the only person who can control them. As the silence between one beat and the next grows, your fear will start to disappear. We need those silences to exist, to think.

 

From this dark, cold place I can hear your heart. I know from memory all its movements. When you are asleep or awake, happy or sad, like today. My Amanda, I want you never to forget that we were happy once.

 

Claire looked down anxiously at the ebony box on Amanda’s lap. In the half-light, her friend’s face lost its soft outline and looked severe, imposing. “The only thing that unites me and my daughter is in here, Claire. Can you imagine that something so big could fit into such a small space?” There was no answer to a question like that.

 

 My Review:

 

This was my first exposure to the phenomenal artistry of Armando Lucas Correa, and I will confess to being a smitten kitten. I quickly fell into his vortex as if under a spell, Mr. Correa appears to be a deftly skilled and superior Wizard of Words as I was definitely mesmerized. His premise was based on actual events and several of the horrific and diabolical atrocities dreamed up by the Germans – military and citizenry alike.

Mr. Correa’s writing was poignant, highly emotive, devastatingly evocative, and required occasional breaks in reading as my eyes were too wet to continue. His insightful and moving prose squeezed my chest, burned my eyes, and put hot rocks in my throat. His compelling characters were intricately drawn and I became so entrenched in their captivating storylines that their struggles became quite real to me.

Like most Caucasian Americans of European ancestry, I am unsure of much of my heritage as basically, we are all mutts and have absolutely nothing to feel superior about. I am uncertain if I have much if any German heritage in my DNA, but if I do, I want to know if it can be removed – pronto!

 

About the Author

Armando Lucas Correa is an award-winning journalist, editor, author, and the recipient of several awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications and the Society of Professional Journalism. He is the author of the international bestseller The German Girl, which is now being published in thirteen languages. He lives in New York City with his partner and their three children.

Connect with Armando

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Book Review: The East End by Jason Allen

THE EAST END

by Jason Allen

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA /

B&N / Harlequin / B-A-M / Powell’s

ISBN: 9780778308393

Publication Date: 5/7/19

Publisher: Park Row Books

 

THE EAST END opens with Corey Halpern, a Hamptons local from a broken home who breaks into mansions at night for kicks. He likes the rush and admittedly, the escapism. One night just before Memorial Day weekend, he breaks into the wrong home at the wrong time: the Sheffield estate where he and his mother work. Under the cover of darkness, their boss Leo Sheffield — billionaire CEO, patriarch, and owner of the vast lakeside manor — arrives unexpectedly with his lover, Henry. After a shocking poolside accident leaves Henry dead, everything depends on Leo burying the truth. But unfortunately for him, Corey saw what happened and there are other eyes in the shadows.

 

Hordes of family and guests are coming to the estate the next morning, including Leo’s surly wife, all expecting a lavish vacation weekend of poolside drinks, evening parties, and fireworks filling the sky. No one can know there’s a dead man in the woods, and there is no one Leo can turn to. With his very life on the line, everything will come down to a split-second decision. For all of the main players—Leo, Gina, and Corey alike—time is ticking down, and the world they’ve known is set to explode.

 

Told through multiple points of view, THE EAST END highlights the socio-economic divide in the Hamptons, but also how the basic human need for connection and trust can transcend class differences. Secrecy, obsession, and desperation dictate each character’s path. In a race against time, each critical moment holds life in the balance as Corey, Gina, and Leo approach a common breaking point. THE EAST END is a propulsive read, rich with character and atmosphere, and marks the emergence of a talented new voice in fiction.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Time passed as Leo sat cockeyed on one of the lounge chairs beside the pool with an elbow on one knee and the bag of ice pressed to the back of his head, staring at the water, his vision like that of an old television set with poor reception, blurring between two channels.

 

They stared at each other, locked in that tension like animals at a watering hole— one predator, one prey, but who could say which was which now?

 

The water kept on running, the pills still cradled in her palm. This loneliness, she thought, should be classified as a disease.

 

The thing about regrets, Corey— it’s much better to regret something you have done than something you haven’t done.

  

My Review:

 

I am in need of a spa day after reading this brilliantly crafted suspense/thriller. It was masterfully written, taut with tension, devilishly paced, and cast with an intriguing set of deeply flawed and fractured characters who were reaching a peak period of crisis or transition, and I couldn’t help but root for them. Each riveting storyline was thrumming with stress and the disses – dismay, despair, discontent, and distress. This tale had a bit of everything; abuse of all types from people to substances, a gamut of personality disorders and vices, blackmail, adultery, bribery, rich vs. poor, and a closeted gay who had more than that one skeleton in his closet.

 

The writing was simply stellar.   Mr. Allen’s writing style was lushly descriptive with evocative and emotive word choices that conjured keen visuals and kept me on edge. I was chewing my lower lip and feeling rather conflicted as while I wanted to savor every well-chosen word, I also felt as if I couldn’t read fast enough as I sensed the build-up to a shattering crescendo. I am doubly impressed since noticing this was his first novel. I hope the cunning Mr. Allen isn’t easily frightened as he now has a rather rabid fangirl…

About the Author

Author Website

Twitter: @EathanJason

Facebook: @jasonallenauthor

Goodreads

Jason Allen grew up in a working-class home in the Hamptons, where he worked a variety of blue-collar jobs for wealthy estate owners. He writes fiction, poetry, and memoir, and is the author of the poetry collection A MEDITATION ON FIRE. He has an MFA from Pacific University and a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from Binghamton University and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he teaches writing. THE EAST END is his first novel.

Book Review: By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank

By Invitation Only

by Dorothea Benton Frank

Amazon US / UK AU / CA / B&N

• Paperback: 432 pages

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (April 23, 2019)

The Lowcountry of South Carolina is where By Invitation Only begins at a barbecue engagement party thrown by Diane English Stiftel, her brother Floyd, and her parents to celebrate her son’s engagement. On this gorgeous, magical night, the bride’s father, Alejandro Cambria, a wealthy power broker whose unbelievably successful career in private equity made him one of Chicago’s celebrated elite, discovers the limits and possibilities of cell phone range. While the mother of the bride, Susan Kennedy Cambria, who dabbles in the world of public relations and believes herself deserving of every square inch of her multimillion-dollar penthouse and imaginary Carrara marble pedestal, learns about moonshine and dangerous liaisons.

Soon By Invitation Only zooms to Chicago, where the unraveling accelerates. Nearly a thousand miles away from her comfortable, familiar world, Diane is the antithesis of the bright lights and super-sophisticated guests attending her son Fred’s second engagement party. Why a second party? Maybe it had been assumed that the first one wouldn’t be up to snuff? Fred is marrying Shelby Cambria, also an only child. The Cambrias’ dearest wish is for their daughter to be happy. If Shelby wants to marry Frederick, aka Fred, they will not stand in her way—although Susan does hope her friends won’t think her daughter is marrying more than a few degrees beneath her socially. At the same time, Diane worries that her son will be lost to her forever.

By Invitation Only is a tale of two families, one struggling to do well, one well to do, and one young couple—the privileged daughter of Chicago’s crème de la crème and the son of hard-working Southern peach farmers.

Dorothea Benton Frank offers a funny, sharp, and deeply empathetic novel of two very different worlds—of limousines and pickup trucks, caviars and pigs, skyscrapers and ocean spray—filled with a delightful cast of characters who all have something to hide and a lot to learn. A difference in legal opinions, a headlong dive from grace, and an abrupt twist will reveal the truth of who they are and demonstrate, when it truly counts, what kind of grit they have. Are they living the life they want, what regrets do they hold, and how would they remake their lives if they were given the invitation to do so?

By Invitation Only is classic Dorothea Benton Frank—a mesmerizing Lowcountry Tale that roars with spirit, humor, and truth, and forces us to reconsider our notions of what it means to be a Have or a Have Not.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Family mythology says that even in its youth, the house was so unappealing that Sherman’s troops let it stand. The officers said it wasn’t worth the flick of the flint it would’ve taken to torch it, and the Yankees had slept in the barn by choice. I heard somewhere that the real reason they took to the barn was that my great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother was especially frisky, but I’d never repeat that.

 

“That ought to make ‘em happy… And if it doesn’t, they can all go home and scratch their mad place.”… No one ever really defined what one’s mad place might be, but it was assumed to be in the area of one’s personal Lowcountry.  

 

When we were growing up, Floyd and I used to say our dishes were Chinese – Ding Dynasty.

 

 My Review:

 

Dorothea Benton Frank imbues her entertaining stories with a special blend of humor, which appears to be equal parts keen wry wit and a unique yet indefinable form of Lowcountry magic. I have been completely enamored with clever arrangements of words since my first exposure with The Hurricane Sisters. I was an instant fangirl and have delighted in each of her thoughtfully observant and witty written tales that I’ve been lucky enough to snag.   Her quirky characters come alive on the page and become so familiar I feel I could recognize them on the street.

 

By Invitation Only was a smartly paced and pleasantly entertaining tale of contrasts that began with a young newly engaged couple announcing their intentions and plans to introduce their divergently different sets of relatives for the first time were instituted. It was the in-laws vs. the outlaws; midwestern urbanites meet the Southern country bumpkins; wealthy snobs meet salt-of-the-earth rednecks. It didn’t help that Uncle Floyd was a Doomsday planner who appeared besotted with camo. He primarily wore camo pants, had camo covered furniture, and even toted a camo themed flask for his spirits. He was also a chick magnet.   Go figure…

 

Dueling engagement parties were planned across the country every upscale extravagance was expended by the Chicago contingent, who thought their worst fears would be finding taxidermy, picnic tables, and gun racks upon arrival at the farm for the Southern version – only to discover moonshine, pig trophies, and the impossibility of removing manure from Chanel ~ snort. I savored every word and eagerly consumed the amusing tag lines that set the tone for each new chapter.

I was provided a review copy of this delightful book by the lovely people at TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins.

About the Author 

New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivans Island, South Carolina. She resides in the New York area with her husband.

Find her on the web at www.dotfrank.com, or like her on FacebookTwitter, or Instagram.

Book Review: The Austen Playbook (London Celebrities #4) by Lucy Parker

The Austen Playbook

 (London Celebrities #4)

by Lucy Parker

 

Amazon US / UK / AU CA / B&N / iTunes

Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages

Publisher: Carina Press; Original edition (April 30, 2019)

In which experienced West End actress Freddy Carlton takes on an Austen-inspired play, a scandal at a country estate, an enthusiastic search for a passion outside of acting…and the (some people might say icy*) heart of London’s most feared theater critic.

*if those people were being nice

Freddy Carlton knows she should be focusing on her lines for The Austen Playbook, a live-action TV event where viewers choose the outcome of each scene, but her concentration’s been blown. The palatial estate housing the endeavor is now run by the rude (brilliant) critic who’s consistently slammed her performances of late. James “Griff” Ford-Griffin has a penchant for sarcasm, a majestic nose and all the sensitivity of a sledgehammer.

She can’t take her eyes off him.

Griff can hardly focus with a contagious joy fairy flitting about near him, especially when Freddy looks at him like that. His only concern right now should be on shutting down his younger brother’s well-intentioned (disastrous) schemes—or at the very least on the production (not this one) that might save his family home from the banks.

Instead, all he can think of is soft skin and vibrant curls.

As he’s reluctantly dragged into her quest to rediscover her passion for the stage and Freddy is drawn into his research on a legendary theater star, the adage about appearances being deceiving proves abundantly true. It’s the unlikely start of something enormous…but a single revelation about the past could derail it all.

“There’s more drama offstage than on, the writing is outstanding, and the bit of mystery blends well into the romance. Theater fans will devour this lovely contemporary romance.”-Publisher’s Weekly, starred review, on The Austen Playbook

“The London Celebrities series-some of the wittiest, smartest dialogue to come down the romance pike in years.”-Kirkus ReviewS of London Celebrities series

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He was all injured gentlemanly charm. It would be more successful if she hadn’t witnessed him getting absolutely rat-arsed at a wrap party, whipping his trousers off, and drawing a smiley-face on his willy. Once you’d seen a bloke doodling on his dick with permanent ink, the mystique was gone.

 

Look at that, her mere presence could make a man’s entire being go instantly flaccid. As superhuman powers went, she didn’t really rate it up there with invisibility and flight.

 

I hope the baffling fact that you’re letting it be staged on your property doesn’t mean I’ll miss out on the joy of a written review. They’re useful to have around if I’m ever in danger of developing self-esteem.

 

I’m a forgiving soul… Can’t say the same for some of that lot out there. And it’s a murder-mystery play. All the suspects gathered together for a house party. It could give someone ideas… The sarcastic critic with his poison pen and scores of embittered enemies. If this was Midsomer Murders, you wouldn’t even make it to the opening credits. If you hear the faint strains of ominous music, come find me. I’ll protect you.

 

Ma once said that if it hadn’t been for the twenty-hour labour, she might have thought he’d spontaneously animated from an ice sculpture.

 

He was broad-shouldered and long-legged, with dark skin and eyes, and his bone structure was unbelievable. He might have been carved by Michelangelo rather than sprouting from cells like other mortals.

 

My Review:

 

This was a fun and cleverly written book that was brimming with levity, razor sharp banter, pithy and wry commentary, keenly honed wit, family drama, a bit of intrigue, and most importantly, an enemies to lovers romance. I adored it, and how could I not – as the main characters were intelligent adults who laced their humor with brilliantly placed Scooby-Doo and Harry Potter references. I enjoyed Ms. Parker’s vibrant characters, vivid descriptions, and colorful word choices.   I also gleaned an addition to my Brit word list with sarky, which is Brit slang for sarcastic, as I could never have enough of those words. 😉

About the Author

Lucy Parker lives in the gorgeous Central Otago region of New Zealand, where she feels lucky every day to look out at mountains, lakes, and vineyards. She has a degree in Art History, loves museums and galleries, and doodles unrecognizable flowers when she has writer’s block. Her interest in romantic fiction began with a pre-teen viewing of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Firth-style), which prompted her to read the book as well, and the rest was history.

Connect with Lucy

Book Review:  Before She Was Found by Heather Gudenkauf

 Before She Was Found

by Heather Gudenkauf

 

Amazon US UK AU CA / B&N

 

Hardcover: 368 Pages

Publisher: Park Row; Original edition (April 16, 2019)

A gripping thriller about three young girlfriends, a dark obsession and a chilling crime that shakes up a quiet Iowa town

For twelve-year-old Cora Landry and her friends Violet and Jordyn, it was supposed to be an ordinary sleepover—movies and Ouija and talking about boys. But when they decide to sneak out to go to the abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town, little do they know that their innocent games will have dangerous consequences.

Later that night, Cora Landry is discovered on the tracks, bloody and clinging to life, her friends nowhere to be found. Soon their small rural town is thrust into a maelstrom. Who would want to hurt a young girl like Cora—and why? In an investigation that leaves no stone unturned, everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted—not even those closest to Cora.

Before She Was Found is a timely and gripping thriller about friendship and betrayal, about the power of social pressure and the price of needing to fit in. It is about the great lengths a parent will go to protect their child and keep them safe—even if that means burying the truth, no matter the cost.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

I’ve always hated the sound of trains— like an old woman screaming in a thunderstorm.

My Review:

 

I was on edge while reading this brilliantly plotted and well-crafted book, my shoulders were up in my ears and the knots in my neck have additional knots of their own. Heather Gudenkauf is an evil genius and has nimbly contrived a perfectly vexing conundrum that kept me riveted to my Kindle all day. Her word voodoo is strong! Her original and cunningly paced storylines were wickedly confounding and perceptively written from multiple points of view while racking up a multitude of suspects and all kinds of twisty turns and blind alleys.

Ms.  Gudenkauf embedded her story in a small town in Iowa and devilishly cast her tale with realistically obnoxious teens, vulnerable and insecure tweens, bullies of all ages, mean girl middle school pettiness, oblivious adults, and a seventy-five year old urban legend that just wouldn’t die and was being used as bait for a cruel catfish scheme. Each character was uniquely drawn yet this shrewd and devious author is such a wily minx, she taunted and nettled me by never fully fleshing anyone out. Each new piece of information gleaned left me even more curious. I had postulated and cast aside a multitude of theories but only had a small inkling of the actual conclusion. And I must note, Do Pull Inn was truly a smirk-worthy name for a small-town motel.
This riveting book was chosen as my Review of the Month contribution for  LovelyAudiobooks.info

About the Author

Heather Gudenkauf is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and Not a Sound.  Heather lives in Iowa with her family.

.Connect with Heather

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