The Housemaid is Watching - Freida McFadden

A Bookworm's World is a stop on today's blog tour for The Housemaid is Watching.

I've seen so many positive reviews of Freida McFadden's suspense novels, so I thought it was about time I read one. Her latest is The Housemaid is Watching. 

McFadden starts off with a prologue guaranteed to hook the reader. We now know what awaits us in further along in the book. What we need now is the who and why...

Millie, her husband Enzo and their two children have just moved into a house on a quiet cul-de-sac. The neighbors are a bit 'off', but that can't take away from their happiness of owning a house at last. Or can it?

McFadden is a master of misdirection. She had me looking at one set of events, while I should have been looking at another. Bravo! I love being unable to predict what is going to happen next in a plot. Almost every chapter ends with foreshadowing, which means I just had to read just another chapter and another. 

Most of the chapters belong to Millie's point of view, but other characters are given a voice as the end of the book draws near. Clues about Millie's past are dropped in as the book progresses. My perception about Millie changed quite a few times as the book continued. It was the same for many other characters as well. McFadden gives us some crazy twists that were unexpected - but very welcomed!

While this was my first McFadden tale, it won't be my last! This would be a great beach read!

Tour stop! Their Lost Souls - Roger Stelljes

I'm a stop on today's tour for Roger Stelljes's brand new book - Their Lost Souls!

This is a first read of Stelljes for me. There are a large number of characters in this series, but the author provides lots of history and detail as to who is who and what has taken place in the past. I easily caught up.

Stelljes has created a great lead with Agent Tori Hunter. She's smart and driven - and has a bit of a dark side when it comes to justice. Braddock - her partner in life - is also her work partner. Stelljes gives his characters (including the supporting players) rich personal lives.

His plotting for Their Lost Souls is unique. A young couple are brutally killed outside their cabin. Who could have done such a thing? The pressure is on from a number of higher ups - they need a result now. A single clue at the cabin catches Tori's interest - and takes her to answers she couldn't have imagined.

I liked it all - the characters, the search for the perpetrators, the quick dialogue, the setting and the continuity! 

"Roger Stelljes is the acclaimed New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of pulse-pounding murder mystery and suspense novels, including the Tori Hunter and McRyan Mystery Series. Roger’s crime thrillers are noted for their fast-paced, yet intricate plots filled with layered and complex characters.

Roger started his first novel in July 2002 while on vacation in Minnesota’s Brainerd Lakes area and has been writing ever since. His debut book, The St. Paul Conspiracy, was nominated in genre fiction for the Minnesota Book Awards along with finalists Brian Freeman and William Kent Krueger. With his follow-up, Deadly Stillwater, where Vince Flynn hailed Roger as a “powerful new thriller voice”, he won the Midwest Independent Book Publishers award for commercial fiction.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Roger still lives there with his family. In addition to his work as an author, Roger is a partner in his law firm. Roger is an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys spending time outdoors boating, attending hockey games, and honing his golf game."

You can connect with Roger on his website, find him on Facebook, also on Instagram as well as on X (Twitter).

The Woman With A Purple Heart by Diane Hanks - Release week!

If you enjoy historical fiction, especially WWII, you're going to want to pick up a copy of Diane Hanks' just released debut novel - The Woman With A Purple Heart. 

And if you're wondering - the answer is yes' The book is "Based on the breathtaking true story of Lieutenant Annie Fox, the first woman to be awarded the Purple Heart for combat as a result of her heroism at Pearl Harbor"

Here's more from Source Landmarks: 

"In November 1941, Annie Fox, an Army nurse, is transferred to Hickam Field, an air force base in Honolulu. The others on her transport plane are thrilled to work in paradise, but Annie sees her new duty station as the Army's way of holding the door open to her retirement. But serving her country is her calling and she will go wherever she is told.

On December 7, Annie's on her way to work when the first Japanese Zero fighter plane flies low over Hickam's Parade Ground. The death and destruction that follow leave her no time to process what's happening. She rallies her nurses, and they work to save as many lives as they can. But soon their small hospital is overwhelmed. Annie drives into Honolulu to gather supplies, nurses, and several women who will donate blood. However, the nurses are Japanese Americans, and the blood donors are prostitutes. 

Under Annie's leadership and working together in unexpected ways, they make it through that horrific day, when one of the Japanese American nurses and Annie's friend, Kay, is arrested as a suspected subversive. As Hickam tries to recover, Annie works to find her friend and return Kay to her family. But Annie's love for her country is put to the test. How can she reconcile the American bravery and resilience she saw on December 7 with the prejudice and injustice she witnesses just a few months later?" Sounds like a great read! See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Woman With A Purple Heart.

"Diane Hanks was inspired to write The Woman With A Purple Heart because she first saw the name Annie Fox when she was a medical writer working on a project about VA’s Annie App, which is used to send text messages to veterans about self-care. Hanks discovered the app was named after Lt. Annie Fox, and she considered it a shame that the first female recipient of the Purple Heart was not widely known. Thus, The Woman With A Purple Heart was born."

"Diane Hicks has a BFA and MA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston, MA. She was first published in an anthology of short stories titled How the Weather Was when she was in graduate school; then she took a detour in

screenwriting. The detour lasted a few decades and resulted in several honors that

included winning the PAGE International Screenwriting Award Grand Prize with a drama pilot, in addition to one of her screenplays being featured on the prestigious Black List and making the inaugural GLAAD List. The Woman With A Purple Heart is based on Diane’s screenplay titled Hickam." You can find Diane on Facebook.

The Last Close Call by Laura Griffin - Release week!

It's release week for Laura Griffin's new novel - The Last Close Call!

What's it about? From the publisher, Berkley:

"A talented genetic analyst and a detective who’s haunted by an elusive cold case team up in the new standalone romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin.

 

Forensic genealogist Rowan Healy has made a name for herself by helping investigators trace the family trees of violent criminals who have eluded justice for years. But the pressure of police cases left her burned out, and she’s shifted her focus to helping adoptees find their biological parents. 

 

Austin detective Jack Bruner has spent his career successfully tracking down vicious criminals—with the notable exception of the West Campus Rapist, a meticulous offender in Texas who has never been identified. When the latest two victims come to light, Jack sees his target is escalating his violent behavior—and only with Rowan’s help does he stand a chance of cracking this case.

 

Moved by Jack’s dedication and the brutal details of the attacks he lays out, Rowan agrees to help. When her ground-breaking DNA research sheds new light on the criminal’s background and helps them zero in on a search radius, Rowan and Jack must race against the clock to find a ruthless killer who’s growing bolder the longer he evades the law." (The Last Close Call contains sensitive subject matter including sexual assault.)

See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Last Close Call. 

Photo: © Kathy Whittaker Photography

"Laura Griffin is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty books and novellas. She is a two-time RITA Award winner, as well as the recipient of the Daphne du Maurier Award."

You can connect with Laura on her webpage, find her on Facebook, as well as on X at https://twitter.com/Laura_Griff.

Release week for Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison

I always check out the cover of a new book before turning the first page of a new book. That sheep is more than a little eerie... 

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison has just released. What's it about? From the publisher, Berkley:

"A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.

 

Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly…something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep. 

 

Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.

 

When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Black Sheep.

Photo: © Nic Harris

"Rachel Harrison is the national bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth, Cackle, and The Return, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, in Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut collection, Bad Dolls. She lives in western New York with her husband and their cat/overlord." 

You can connect with Rachel on her website, also on Instagram, as well as X(Twitter).

Beneath Dark Waters - Karen Rose - Release Day!

Karen Rose's new novel, Beneath Dark Waters, releases today! It's the second book in her New Orleans series.

What's it about? From Berkley Books:

"Deadly secrets lie beneath the murky waters of the Louisiana bayou in this pulse-pounding new romantic suspense novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

There’s no safe place for a child to hide when danger comes from every direction.

Public prosecutor J.P. “Kaj” Cardozo has only lived in New Orleans for six months, and he’s already working on a high-profile celebrity sexual assault case that’s made headlines all over the country. But when his son becomes the target of a kidnapping attempt as a threat to Kaj, he is desperate to keep him safe and turns to a private investigative firm famous for their protection services.

A veteran Marine, Val Sorensen is glad to have found a new career with Broussard Investigations. Her latest assignment as the bodyguard to ten-year-old Elijah Cardozo reminds her why—Val is a kick ass guardian with a tender heart.  Through her duties, Val grows fond of the boy—and his handsome father.

But when the high-stakes investigation reveals an explosive network of crime through a revived drug gang, lingering deep-seated corruption in the NOPD, and a group of murderers-for-hire targeting Kaj, Elijah, and his star client, they’re all left scrambling for safety…"  Sound good? See for yourself - read an excerpt of Beneath Dark Waters.

Karen Rose is the award-winning, #1 international bestselling author of some twenty novels, including the bestselling Baltimore and Cincinnati series. She has been translated into twenty-three languages and her books have placed on the New York Times, the Sunday Times (UK), and Germany’s der Spiegel bestseller lists.

You can connect with Karen Rose on Twitter as well as on Facebook.

Giveaway - Floating in the Neversink - Andrea Simon

I love the cover of Andrea Simon's new novel Floating in the Neversink: A Novel in Stories. And what's inside sounds pretty great too! I'm today's stop on Andrea's blog tour and I have a copy of Floating in the Neversink to giveaway to one lucky reader. AND a copy of Andrea's other award-winning historical fiction novel, Esfir is Alive.

What's it about? From Black Rose Writing:

"In the summer of 1955, nine-year-old Amanda Gerber tearfully leaves her best friend, Francine, and their adventurous life on her block in Brooklyn’s Flatbush. She joins her cantankerous family on the long, hot drive to her grandmother’s home in the Catskill Mountains among the city’s Jews who flock to countless hotels and bungalow colonies in the heyday of the Borscht Belt. In the idyllic mountains, Amanda  becomes ensconced in the tumult of her extended family and their friends, often seeking solace in the woods with her beloved cousin Laura.

Through the following summers, interspersed with the heightened drama of her emotionally charged city life, Amanda faces severe tests to her survival mechanisms, including the pain of loss, abuse, and betrayal, while family secrets threaten to disrupt her life even further. A novel-in-stories, Floating in the Neversink is a testament to the power of survival, friendship, and love." Read an excerpt of Floating in the Neversink.

Andrea Simon is the author of the award-winning historical novel "Esfir Is Alive," the memoir "Bashert: A Granddaughter's Holocaust Quest," now in a new paperback edition, the novel-in-stories, "Floating in the Neversink," as well as several published stories and essays. She is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the winner of the Ernest Hemingway First Novel Contest, two Dortort Creative Writing Awards, the Stark Short Fiction Prize, the Short Story Society Award, and the Authors in the Park Short Story Writing Contest. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the City College of New York where she has taught writing. Andrea is also an accomplished photographer, and her work has been featured in international publications and galleries. Andrea lives in New York City. @simonandrea19 (Twitter), @andreasimon (Facebook)

And if you'd like to read Floating in the Neversink and Esfir is Alive, enter for a chance to win using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US only. Ends November 4/19.

#FloatingintheNeversink #indielit #indiepublishing #indielove , @blackrosewriting (Facebook and Instagram), and @brwpublisher (Twitter)

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The Tiger Catcher - Paullina Simons - Q and A And Giveaway!

I'm today's stop on the blog tour for Paullina Simons' new book, The Tiger Catcher! Thanks Paullina for stopping by for a few Q and A! And I'm thrilled to to be able to offer an autographed copy of The Tiger Catcher to one lucky reader!

"The Tiger Catcher is the story of Julian, living a charmed life in Los Angeles, whose world is turned upside down by a love affair with Josephine, a mysterious young woman who takes him by storm. But she is not what she seems, carrying secrets that tear them apart - perhaps forever.  So begins Julian and Josephine's extraordinary adventure of love, loss, and the mystical forces that bind people together across time and space. It is a journey that propels Julian toward impossible choices which will lead him to love fulfilled ... or to oblivion."

I had a chance to ask Paullina a bit more about The Tiger Catcher...

Q. Your last epic love story began with The Bronze Horseman, which you published in 2001. Why have you waited so long to go back to this type of story?

 A.  I will admit that after The Bronze Horseman I wondered whether or not I would ever write another book. I honestly thought there was nothing left in me to write about. Then I began the second book in the saga.

 And then I had another idea, and another...

 In 2014, I had an idea for a story about lost love and one man’s desperate search and an adventure to make things right, to get a second chance, to try again.

The story got bigger and bigger. I didn’t realize at first it was going to be this huge. But after about a year of writing and thinking about it, I knew. It just kept growing.

Q. Without giving anything away it’s fair to say that The Tiger Catcher has some mystical elements. You’ve been writing for twenty-five years, why enter this realm now?

 A.  I can’t say it was an intentional move. The fact is that, for me, this story came from the same place that all my others have come. I simply had an idea. In this case, the idea was about a man who loved a woman so much he bridged time and space to find her.

Q. The Tiger Catcher takes place in Los Angeles and London. Do you have a personal connection to those places?

A.  I lived and worked in London from 1984 to 1990, and I love that city. Los Angeles is the unrequited love of my life. I’ve dreamed of living there since I was 13.

Q. The book also delves deeply into historical London, how did you do your research for that? How did you select the time periods in which to base your story?

A.  I lived and worked in London from 1984 to 1990, so I always felt a real connection to the city. And, of course, literature makes it hard not to have a sense of the history of London. There’s Shakespeare, Dickens, the romantic poets. As a child, the worlds of David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Sherlock Holmes were as real to me as my own. For me, the history of London feels like the history of Western civilization AND of my life.

As for research, living there helped. And I have been back many times since I left.

I’ll admit I was a bit jealous of my daughter’s favorite writer, Cassandra Clare, who is an American, but lived in London for many months while she was working on her 19th century supernatural stories set in England. I wish I could do that. Maybe when the kids are all out of the house.

The time periods were an organic process that that evolved from the story, itself. Where were Julian and Josephine in the narrative of their love affair? What stage was the progress of their souls? Where did they begin, where were they going, where did they need to be? And so each part of their story informed the next part, and the next. It was almost as if they, themselves, chose the settings for their adventures.

Q. Where did the title come from? Is tiger catching a real vocation?

A. Tiger catching is real. It’s an art passed down from generation to generation of families who live in East Asia. It’s infinitely more complicated than hunting, and success requires an almost spiritual connection to the tiger.

Q. The Tiger Catcher is billed as the first book in a trilogy. What can readers expect from books 2 and 3, A Beggar’s Kingdom and Inexpressible Island?

A. I have some things I definitely want the readers to take away from the whole saga but it’s too early for me to say now. I can say that I definitely want readers to come away from The Tiger Catcher wanting more!

Thanks Paullina! The Tiger Catcher sounds fab! And if you think so too, enter for a win a chance to win an autographed copy, courtesy of William Morrow, using the Rafflecopter form. Ends June 29/19.

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Paullina is also running a giveaway over on her blog with an amazing grand prize! You can check out the rest of the tour stops for more chances to win here.

"Paullina Simons was born and raised in Leningrad, USSR. In 1968, her father was arrested for protesting the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia and spent the next five years of his life in the Gulag prison camps and in exile. In the mid-seventies, Paullina and her family managed to leave the U.S.S.R. and immigrate to the United States. While growing up in Russia Paullina dreamed of someday becoming a writer. Her dreams were put on hold as she learned English and overcame the shock of a new culture.

After graduating from the University of Kansas and various jobs including working as a financial journalist and as a translator, Paullina wrote her first novel Tully. Through word of mouth, the book was welcomed by readers all over the world. She has since written twelve novels, a memoir, a cookbook, and two children’s books. Her books have been published in over 23 countries, sold millions of copies, and have been on many bestseller lists around the world.

Paullina has lived in Rome, London, and Dallas, and now lives in New York with her husband and half of her children.

The Tiger Catcher, Paullina’s first book in the new End of Forever Trilogy, will be published in May 2019. A Beggar's Kingdom, Book Two, will be published in August 2019, and the final book in the trilogy, Inexpressible Island, will be published in December 2019." You can connect with Paullina on her website, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

#TigerCatcher, #EndOfForever, #JulianAndJosephine, #PaullinaSimons, 

#WilliamMorrow, #TrueLoveNeverDies  #TigerCatcherTour

The Summer Guests - Mary Alice Monroe

Looking for a summer beach read? Look no further than Mary Alice Monroe's new novel - The Summer Guests!

A hurricane is set to strike the Florida and North Carolina coasts. Grace Phillips lives inland and has offered a number of her diverse group of friends to take refuge at her inland farm. The one thing they have in common? Horses.

The weather mirrors the lives of the large character cast. As the hurricane threatens, the lives of the characters are facing stormy times. When the storm hits, lives change and as the storm eases up, new paths are set for almost everyone over the course of ten days. (And a lot happens!)

All types of relationships are explored - friendship, mother/daughter, romantic, working - and horses. I am completely in the dark about equine matters and I learned quite a bit from Monroe's descriptions and settings. Again, much of the equine situations mirror what's going on in the lives of the group.

It is a diverse group and readers will gravitate towards some players (I really liked Moira and her mother Grace - maybe we'll see them in a future book?). And dislike others. With so many characters, the narrative changed often and I felt like I didn't really get to 'know' them as much as I would have liked.

The Summer Guests takes inspiration from Munroe's own life and experiences through an evacuation, her knowledge of the horse community and of course, the Southern settings.

This was a first read of Mary Alice Monroe for me. The Summer Guests engaged me, the story was entertaining and it just seemed right for beach reading. See for  yourself - here's an excerpt of The Summer Guests.

"Mary Alice Monroe is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the Beach House series: The Beach House, Beach House Memories, Swimming Lessons, Beach House for Rent, and Beach House Reunion. She is a 2018 Inductee into the South Carolina Academy of Authors’ Hall of Fame, and her books have received numerous awards, including the 2008 South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing, the 2014 South Carolina Award for Literary Excellence, the 2015 SW Florida Author of Distinction Award, the RT Lifetime Achievement Award, the International Book Award for Green Fiction, and the 2017 Southern Book Prize for Fiction. Her bestselling novel The Beach House is also a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. An active conservationist, she lives in the lowcountry of South Carolina." Visit her at her website and like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

The Matchmaker's List - Sonya Lalli

Sonya Lalli's debut novel, The Matchmaker's List, releases on February 5th. I'm today's stop on the Canadian blog tour.

Two years ago, Raina Anand made her Nani (grandmother) a promise - "...if I wasn't married at thirty, I'd let her make the arrangements for me." Well, that 30th birthday is creeping up....

Nani makes a list of possibilities - 'nice Indian boys for my Raina'. And so Raina begins a series of (quite funny) first dates. Most of them end up being first and last dates. You see, Raina is still in love with Dev, despite it being two years since they broke up.

Nani was my favourite character - her love for the granddaughter she has raised is all encompassing and absolute, no matter what. Some 'what' does happen in Lalli's plotting. I must admit to feeling more than a bit uncomfortable with one significant plot device. (I'm being deliberately obtuse as I don't want to give anything away.) I found it insensitive and not what I would have expected in this day and age. While Raina is almost thirty, she has a lot of growing up to do.

Shay is the best friend and she was wonderfully drawn - exactly the kind of person you would want as a best friend. I enjoyed the other supporting players as well. Now, this is billed as a rom-com, so you know there's going to be that yes/no/maybe so love interest - from both past and present. The reader will have no problem picking the right one for Raina, but will she be able to see for herself?

I enjoyed the exploration of Indian culture and the study of traditional expectations vs. younger generations. Lalli also explores familial relationships within the Anand family - there's some heavier stuff there. The Matchmaker's List is set in Toronto. Many of the neighbourhoods and settings were places I've visited and was able to easily envision.

Read an excerpt of The Matchmaker's List. Here are some other reviews and opinions from Goodreads.

Cr: Ming Joanis

"Sonya Lalli is a Canadian writer of Indian heritage. She studied law in her hometown of Saskatoon and at Columbia University in New York, and later completed an MA in Creative Writing and Publishing at City, University of London. Sonya has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and loves travel, yoga and cocktail bartending. She lives in Toronto with her husband." You can connect with Sonya on her website and follow her on Twitter.

Voices on the Road Blog Tour AND Giveaway!

I had someone ask me the other day how I found time to read so many books.Well, the truth is that I listen to a great number of books as well. I've always got one in the car for my commute back and forth to work. (And for those nights I can't sleep - one on the MP3 player as well) I find listening brings a book to life for me - I become immersed in the tale.

Lots of you will be travelling this weekend - car, bus, plane - or maybe you're the one doing all the cooking! Either way, an audio book makes a great companion. I've listed five that I've enjoyed below. AND make sure you enter the amazing giveaway I have for a fantastic selection of 10 audiobooks that have been generously donated by Galaxy Press, Hachette Audio, Harper Audio, High Bridge Audio, Macmillan, Penguin Random House Audio, and Post Hypnotic Press, Scholastic, Simon and Schuster Audio, and Tantor Audio. Enter at the end of the post.

And in no particular order, here are five of my favorite listens:

The Passage by Justin Cronin is the first book is this apocalyptic trilogy. The reader for all three entries is Scott Brick. Brick is a fantastic narrator. Or perhaps I should say performer. His voice is amazingly expressive. He narrates all three books.  Listen to an excerpt of The Passage. (My review)



Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series is a series I enjoy. I read the first book, but have since listened to subsequent entries. The Secret Place features readers Stephen Hogan and Lara Hutchinson. Their Irish accent creates vivid mental images of time and place. I enjoy the two readers - it makes it feel like you are listening in..... Listen to an excerpt of The Secret Place. (My review)

Matchup is edited by Lee Child. But here's the great thing - this is a short story collection featuring iconic characters from many authors. And it's narrated by many readers. The stories are great and it's a wonderful way to discover new readers. Listen to an excerpt of Matchup. (My review)



Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series is another perennial favorite of mine. Again, I started reading the series, but have transitioned to listening to them - in great part because of the reader. The Wrong Side of Goodbye was a fantastic listen. Narrator Titus Welliver has become the voice of Bosch for me - gruff, growly, tough. His interpretation of the character absolutely matches my mental image. Listen to an excerpt of The Wrong Side of Goodbye. (My review)

She Rides Shotgun is Jordan Harper's debut novel. It reads like a movie and narrator David Marantz's interpretation captured the feeling of danger and action that drives the book. Listen to an excerpt of She Rides Shotgun. (My review)

Check out other blogger's favorites on this Audio Publishers Association tour - full schedule can be found here. Want more? Keep up on social media -  Audiobook_Comm on Facebook and @Audiobook_Comm on Twitter with the hashtag #loveaudiobooks.

Enter to win a selection of ten audiobooks using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US and Canada, ends December 2/17.

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Something Like Happy - Eva Woods

I was really intrigued by the inspiration for Eva Woods' new novel  Something Like Happy. I hadn't heard about the #100happydays challenge before this. (You can find out more at the website and on Twitter.)

In Something Like Happy, we meet Annie - who is definitely not happy. Her mother is ill, she hates her job, lives in a grubby flat, her marriage has broken up and there's a tragedy in her past that has crippled her moving forward. A chance meeting with Polly, a woman who is dying, changes her life. Polly has been given three months to live - and she has decided to not to waste a single day or opportunity - and to touch and involve as many people as she can in feeling happy. Every day for 100 days.

"I don't want to just...go through the motions of dying. I want to really try and change things. I have to make some kind of mark, you see, before I disappear forever. I want to show it's possible to be happy and enjoy life even if things seem awful."

It's impossible not to like Polly as her enthusiasm is infectious. On the flip side, it's very hard to celebrate each day as she does, knowing that she literally has one hundred days left. Doubly hard if you know someone who is terminally ill. But the message at the heart of the book is important. We truly do need to find something or someone to enjoy every day - whatever that may be. Happy is different for everyone.

Annie was a great foil for Polly. When we meet her, she is grumpy, depressed and simply existing. And although the reader is pretty sure how things will progress, her 'transformation' is still a pleasure to follow. I enjoyed the supporting cast, especially Costas, Annie's lodger. Dr. McGrumpy is a close second. He's also the romantic lead in Something Like Happy.

Woods takes some literary license with some of her plotting. Many scenes and developments take place in the hospital. And in 'real life' many of them just wouldn't happen. (Such as sharing other patient's diagnosis with volunteers) As with the romance, these plotlines have the feel of a chick lit read.

Something Like Happy is a double edged read. On one hand it's a feel-good, inspirational read. On the other, it is tinged with sadness and will have the reader perhaps recalling loss in their own lives. But, I think the takeaway will be inspirational as well. Even if you don't formally participate in the challenge, the idea of finding something to be happy for every day is a worthwhile goal.

"The thing about happiness, Annie - sometimes it's in the contrasts. Hot bath on a cold day. Cool drink in the sun. That feeling when your car almost skids on the ice for a second and you're fine - it's hard to appreciate things unless you know what it's like without them." Read an excerpt of Something Like Happy.

"Eva Woods was inspired to write SOMETHING LIKE HAPPY after surviving her own brush with cancer and the breakdown of her marriage. Woods lives in London, where she teaches creative writing and regularly contributes to Marie Claire UK, xoJane, and other publications."You can connect with Eva Woods on her website, like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

(And on a final note - "At the moment, the challenge has been taken by more than 8 000 000 people from 160 countries and territories around the world...")

The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash - Candace Ganger

I always have one YA book tapped to be my companion at the beach for a day in the summer. Candace Ganger's debut novel, The Inevitable Collison of Birdie and Bash was that book.

Birdie and Sebastian (Bash) meet at a party. There's interest on both sides, but nothing happens that night. Well, nothing between the two of them. But something does happen that will change both their lives.... The reader knows what has transpired and can only be a silent witness as events unfold. The pair meet again and the sparks are still there.....but so is what happened....

Two great lead characters - I was happily in their corner, hoping that the fates would align for them. But Ganger has set a pretty high set of obstacles for the pair.  Maybe tragedies is a better word to use.

The supporting cast is easy to categorize - Bash's friend Kyle is very easy to - well, to hate. Birdie's grandpa Sarge says little, but has much to say when he does speak. Ms. Camilla had me in tears. But it was only on reading the author's notes that I discovered Ganger had taken inspiration from her own life for some of the characters and heartbreak. You can feel that personal connection in the writing.

Birdie is a science nerd. Ganger cleverly uses science terms and Lessons of the Day to accompany situations, relationships and developments as the book progresses.

"Lesson of the Day: There are reasons - many reasons - some particles shouldn't combine, no matter how  curious you are about the outcome. Sometimes things explode; sometimes they dissipate, evaporate, disintegrate. And sometimes they collide and become something so much more than you ever thought they could."

My only quibble is Bash's taking the blame for 'the incident' - I did have a hard time thinking that someone would actually do that. But, it's absolutely a driving point of the plot, so it's very necessary.

Loss, grief, love, friendship, coming of age and more populate this novel. It's a really wonderful debut. Read an excerpt of The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash. This book has 'movie' written all over it. Fans of John Green will enjoy this one.

Cr: Merinda Buchanan 

"Candace Ganger is a young adult author, contributing writer for Hello Giggles, and obsessive marathoner. Aside from having past lives as a singer, nanotechnology website editor, and world’s worst vacuum sales rep, she’s also ghostwritten hundreds of projects for companies, best-selling fiction and award-winning nonfiction authors alike. Candace—aka—Candyland—has a severe Milky Way latter addiction + eats way too many donuts/doughnuts but all things in excess, amiright? FYI: She’s TOTALLY awkward in person (#sorrynotsorry). She lives in Ohio with her family." You can connect with Candace on her website. like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Giveaway - Sun at Midnight - Rosie Thomas

Sun at Midnight by Rosie Thomas is being released on July 25 - and I have four copies to giveaway to four lucky readers!

What's it about? From the publisher, Overlook Press:

"Alice, who as a scientist relies on method, precision, and tangible proof, is forced to critically evaluate her own life for the first time when her relationship with her artist boyfriend collapses spectacularly. Heartbroken, childless, and tied down by her work, it is time to break away. Accepting an invitation to join an expedition to the southernmost point of the earth, Antarctica, Alice ventures beyond all that she’s known.

Upon arrival, she meets James Rooker, a man who, like her, has nowhere further to run in Antarctica's beautiful but unforgiving environment. Living on a tiny research base with only a small group of people, the isolation wipes out everyone's past, but there is a jolt of recognition between Alice and Rooker that cannot be denied. Geographically and emotionally on the brink of sublime, new terrain, Alice discovers something that will change her life forever . . . if she survives. "

"Thomas brings the Antarctic to life in this novel, in which one woman’s exploration of the snow-covered landscape is as much a scientific expedition as it is a time of self-discovery . . . Illuminating yet quietly revealing, Thomas’s latest is elevated by its unique setting and its strong characterization.” —Publishers Weekly"

"Rosie Thomas is the author of numerous critically acclaimed, bestselling novels, and has twice won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Born in a small village in northern Wales, Thomas discovered a love of traveling and mountaineering when her children were grown. In the years since, she has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, and trekked in the footsteps of Shackleton on South Georgia Island." You can connect with Rosie Thomas on her website and like her on Facebook.

And if Sun at Midnight sounds like a book you'd like to read, enter to win a copy using the Rafflcopter form below. Open to US only, ends July 17th.

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Little Heaven - Nick Cutter

Nick Cutter is a pseudonym for a Canadian author who has written some lovely memoirs that I've enjoyed. And then there's the opposite side of the coin. Cutter writes some scary sh...um stuff. (To this day if I think about The Troop I get all squeamish.) The squeam factor his latest, Little Heaven, is even greater.

The premise? In 1965 three guns for hire band together (instead of killing each other) to rescue a boy from a religious cult (echoes of Jonestown) deep in the woods of New Mexico. What awaits them is much darker and devilish that expected. We know they survive (but not unscathed) and fifteen years later they are called upon again to return to the site of Little Heaven.

Cutter flips the narrative from past to present, as the reader slowly begins to understand what was faced in 1965 and what they are marching back into in 1980. Although the book has specific time frames attached to it, I felt like the story was in some nebulous time frame with an old timey Western feel.

The three gunfighters are all fleshed out with distinct personalities, strengths and foibles. The reader cannot help but be on their side - despite them being killers in their own rights. My favourite was the lead - Micah Shughrue.

I was somewhat reminded of Stephen King's works. (The Dark Tower series sprang to mind for me and the publisher has mentioned It in the book description.) Cutter lists King as one of his favourite authors and influences. That band of misfits against all evil theme sucks me in every time.

Cutter has a way with descriptions. "Micah Henry Shughrue awoke into a darkness so thick it was like all nights folded together. Darkness stuffed into his mouth and eye sockets, teeming in his nostrils and perched heavy on his chest." That descriptive power is multiplied and magnified when drawing the evil that lives at Little Heaven and in the Black Rock. Perhaps a bit too much for this reader. Some of it became repetitive with the two time frames and I wanted to move on quicker to what was 'behind the curtain.'

Interspersed throughout the story are black and white drawings by Adam Gorham that perfectly capture the tone and tenor of Cutter's words.

Creepy, chilling and scary as hell. Not for the faint at heart - or if bugs really get to you.....Read an excerpt of Little Heaven below.

Giveaway - Lovers and Newcomers - Rosie Thomas

Lovers and Newcomers by Rosie Thomas releases on November 1/16 - and I have three copies to giveaway to three lucky readers!

What's it about? From the publisher, Overlook Press:

"By the bestselling author of The Kashmir Shawl, the mesmerizing novel of old friends reunited...and torn apart once again

Rosie Thomas, beloved by readers for her brilliantly realized characters and twisting, page-turning plots, turns her "sharp nib" (Washington Post Book World) to a group of older friends in this evocative story of camaraderie and its challenges.

Miranda Meadowe decides a lonely widowhood in her crumbling country house is not for her. Reviving a university dream, she invites five of her oldest friends to come and join her to live, and to stave off the prospect of old age. All have their own reasons for accepting.

To begin with, the omens are good. They laugh, dance, drink and behave badly, as they cling to the heritage they thought was theirs for ever: power, health, stability. They are the baby boomers; the world is theirs to change.

But as old attractions resurface alongside new tensions, they discover that the clock can’t be put back. When building work reveals an Iron Age burial site of a tribal queen, the outside world descends on their idyllic retreat, and the isolation of the group is breached. The past is revealed – and the future that beckons is very different from the one they imagined." Read an excerpt of Lovers and Newcomers.

"Rosie Thomas is the author of numerous critically acclaimed, bestselling novels. She has won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award twice, for her novels Iris and Ruby and Sunrise. Born in a small village in northern Wales, Thomas discovered a love of traveling and mountaineering when her children were grown. In the years since, she has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, trekked in the footsteps of Shackleton on South Georgia Island, and spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica. To research The Kashmir Shawl, she traveled to Ladakh and Kashmir." You can connect with Rosie on Facebook as well as on her website.

And if you'd like to read Lovers and Newcomers, enter to win of three copies using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US only, no PO boxes please. Ends Oct. 31/16.

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Blog Tour - The Only Thing Worse Than You Is Me - Lily Anderson

A Bookworm's World is the next stop on the blog tour for The Only Thing Worse Than You Is Me by Lily Anderson.

What's it about? From Griffin Teen:

"Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing--down to number four.

Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.

The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.

Credit: Sarah Lambert

The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You is a geeky, contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing." Check out the excerpt below!

"Lily Anderson is an elementary school librarian and Melvil Dewey fangirl with an ever-growing collection of musical theater tattoos and Harry Potter ephemera. She lives in Northern California. This is her debut novel."

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Giveaway - InVision - Sherrilyn Kenyon

Woohoo! I'm the latest stop on the blog tour and scavenger hunt for InVision, Sherrilyn Kenyon's 'hotly anticipated' seventh volume in her YA series, The Chronicles of Nick - and I have a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader!

Make sure you also enter the sweepstakes for a SIGNED backlist set of 

THE CHRONICLES OF NICK! 

Join the scavenger hunt! Hint: you might want to head over here first.

From the publisher, Griffin Teen:

"Think you have a lot of pressure on your shoulders? Nick Gautier was born to bring about the end of the world . . . it's not easy being the heir of a demon overlord. But Nick is determined to thwart his destiny and get into a good college. To be more than his genetics and prophecy foretell. No one is ever going to tell this stubborn Cajun who and what he really is. Or how to live his life.

Not even the Fates of the Universe. But now that he and his team of ancient gods and demons have claimed the Eye of Ananke and he sees the missteps of the future, he has to battle the demons within that are far deadlier and more treacherous than any he's battled before. All the while his arch nemesis is back and determined to reclaim his place as the harbinger for Armageddon. Even if it means killing Nick and barbecuing everyone he loves to do so."

Watch the book trailer here. The Chronicles of Nick is soon to be a movie as well! You can connect with Sherrilyn Kenyon on her website, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Enter to win a copy of InVision using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US only, no PO boxes please. Ends May 14/16.

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How to Be Brave - E. Katherine Kottaras - Review, Excerpt AND Giveaway

How to Be Brave is E. Katherine Kottaras's debut novel.

In her senior year of high school, Georgia's mother dies - and one of her dying wishes is that Georgia live life bigger. And so the Live Life list is born - including entries such as get high, skip school, go skinny-dipping, ask a certain boy out, kiss that boy, trapeze lessons and more.

"Today's the day to start all over. Today's the day to start living for her"

While I don't agree with all the items on Georgia's list, I applaud the attitude and intention - try everything, do anything you want - without imposing other's attitudes and judgments on yourself. But I believe you need to do those things for yourself, not others.

At first glance, I thought this would be a light-hearted YA novel as the items on the list were checked off. But, Kottaras tackles some heavy subjects - grief, loss, drug use, depression, friendship, bullying, self-esteem, body image and more.

While I quite liked Georgia as the main character, I wasn't as sold on her 'bestie' Liss. Her actions in the second half of the book disappointed me. Many of the other supporting characters were somewhat cliched - the geeky, perfect guy, the mean girl cheerleaders, the quirky teacher who champions the overweight but talented student et al.

Flashbacks and memories about Georgia's mother and her life are quite heartbreaking. And only reinforce that we need to grab life and enjoy every day. I enjoyed the 'poetic' feel of many of these recollections.

Overall, I thought How to Be Brave was a good debut novel - see for yourself in the excerpt below. Or check out the book trailer. And scroll to the bottom to enter the giveaway. 

"This is what it was like:

I didn’t want you to come. I didn’t want you there. 
The day before school, the very first year, 
we waited in line for my schedule.

They stared. Those in line around us— 
the other girls and their moms, 
 the ones who were my year, who were never my friends— 
They saw how you were big, planetary, next to them. 
 Next to me.

The girl in pigtails, someone’s sister,
asked: Is there a baby inside? Her mother, red now, whispered in her ear.

But the girl didn’t mind:
Oh, so she’s fat.

The other girls, the ones who were my year 
who were never my friends—they laughed at you, quietly. 
At me.

Her mother said she was sorry, so sorry, 
And you said: It’s fine. It’s fine. 
But it wasn’t.

You squeezed my hand, and then to the girl in pigtails, 
you said: I am big, yes. But I am beautiful, too. 
And so are you.

Her mother pulled her child away. 
She left the line and let us go first.

I didn’t say: You shouldn’t have come.
I didn’t say: I don’t want you here.

But I also didn’t say: I love you. 
Or: Thank you for being brave.

Later that night, I cried: 
I don’t want to go. I don’t want to face them. 
And every year after.

You’d look at me like I was that girl, 
and you’d say, as though it were true: 
You are possibility and change and beauty. 
One day, you will have a life, a beautiful life. 
You will shine.

I didn’t see it. I couldn’t see it, 
not in myself, 
not in you.

Now, it’s not like that anymore. This is what it’s like: It’s quiet in our house. Too quiet. Especially tonight. The day before my first day of senior year. The A/C hums, the fridge hums, the traffic hums. I’m standing at my closet door, those old knots churning inside my stomach again. I don’t want to go tomorrow. I need to talk to her. Instead, I’ve done what she always did for me the night before the first day of the school year. I’ve picked out three complete outfits, hung them on my closet door. It’s a good start, I guess.
Outfit #1: Dark indigo skinny jeans (are they still considered skinny if they’re a size 16?), drapey black shirt, long gold chain necklace that Liss gave me, and cheap ballet flats that hurt my feet because they’re way too flat and I hate wearing shoes with no socks.
Outfit #2: Black leggings, dark blue drapey knee- length dress (draping is my thing), gold hoop earrings that belonged to my mom, and open-toed black sandals, but that would mean a last-minute half-assed pedicure tonight. A spedicure, if you will.
Outfit #3: A dress my mom bought for me two years ago. The Orange Dress. Well, really more like coral. With embroidered ribbons etched in angular lines that camouflage my flab. Knee-length (not too short/not too long). Three-quarter-length sleeves (to hide the sagging). It’s perfectly retro. And just so beautiful. Especially with this utterly uncomfortable pair of canary-colored peep-toe pumps that belonged to my mom. I begged her for the dress. I made her pay the $125 for it. I knew my parents didn’t have the money, but I couldn’t help crying when I saw myself in the mirror. It fit (it’s a size 14), and I think she saw how pretty I felt because I did feel pretty for the first time, so she charged it.
But I’ve never worn it.
The day after, she went into the ER, her heart acting up again.
She needed another emergency stent, which meant more dye through her kidneys, which meant dialysis a few weeks later, which meant the beginning of the end of everything.
I never put it on after that.
It’s just so bright.
So unlike everything else I wear.
I could wear it tomorrow. I could.
And if she were here, she would tell me to.
I really need to talk to her. It’s just so quiet in this house."
How To Be Brave by E. Katherine Kottaras. Copyright © 2015 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Griffin.

Credit: Emily Mae Marie

"E. Katherine Kottaras is originally from Chicago, but now she writes and teaches in the Los Angeles area. She holds an M.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine and teaches writing and literature at Pasadena City College. She is at her happiest when she is either 1) at the playground with her husband and daughter and their wonderful community of friends, 2) breathing deeply in a full handstand, or 3) writing. She now lives in Los Angeles where she's hard at work on her next book." You can connect with E. Katherine Kottaras on her website, find her on Facebook, as well as on Twitter.

If How To Be Brave sounds like a book you'd like to read, I have a copy to giveaway courtesy of St. Martin's Griffin. Open to US and Canada. Ends Nov. 28/15. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

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