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Peeking Between the Pages

Peeking Between the Pages

...escape into the pages of a good book

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Love Literary Style by Karin Gillespie & Giveaway (US/Canada)

November 7, 2016 by Darlene

litLove Literary Style by Karin Gillespie is a delightful romantic comedy that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s a love story that at times had me laughing and at others had me wanting to strangle the main characters. I loved the characters though – all of them even the ones who were just side characters. Gillespie writes with such humor and warmth and it spills over into her characters and story. So very wonderful!

So what happens when a stuffy literary writer meets a writer of romance novels? Lots of sparks and more than a little conflict. Aaron is a literary writer and Laurie a romance novelist. They are both accepted to a writer’s colony and it is there they meet. The problem – because of an error Aaron is led to believe that Laurie is actually a literary genius and boy is he impressed and more than a little intimidated. Laurie on the other hand is basking in the fact that she was accepted to the colony. It gives validation to her writing career that is in sore need of some help. Of course the sparks fly between the two. When Aaron finally learns who Laurie really is its too late for him – he is already in love with her.

Aaron is struggling with getting his novel published. He’s an old school writer and the new world of publishing is a mystery to him. Facebook, Twitter, websites! He has absolutely no interest in any of it. He only wants to write. Laurie on the other hand is beautiful and bubbly and people are naturally drawn to her. When she’s at a conference for romance writers interest is shown in making a movie from one of her books. This sets Laurie’s career on the fast track and suddenly she’s the hugely successful author with her books everywhere. The one problem is that poor Aaron has no issue with being honest with people. He feels it’s his duty to tell Laurie that the publisher is just exploiting her. That her writing really doesn’t merit the attention her book is getting. Wow- not a good thing to do. Suddenly Aaron finds his butt out the door and Laurie moving on. Or is she? And left on his own will Aaron’s opinions of the romance world change?

This was just a great story. It left me feeling good and I like that although I do find myself missing Aaron and Laurie. They were quite amusing together and with Aaron’s ex Emma thrown in it was really hilarious. The novel good naturedly pokes fun at the publishing world and writers and I think it will appeal to anyone who wants to escape into the pages of a good book for a while. I can’t wait to indulge in more of Karin’s work. Highly recommended!

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Author links: Website, Facebook, Twitter
Buy: Amazon, B&N

GIVEAWAY – OPEN TO US & CANADIAN RESIDENTS
1 copy up for giveaway
*CLICK HERE* and fill out the form to enter
Draw Date November 23/16

 

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Source: Digital review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. No compensation was received.
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Filed Under: 2016 - 100+ Books, 2016 Book Reviews, TLC Tours

The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson (Audiobook)

October 17, 2016 by Darlene

oppositeA reader always has those authors that they love because their books draw you in and don’t let go.  You love their characters and their stories.  Even more you love the way their books make you feel. Joshilyn Jackson is one of those authors for me.  The Opposite of Everyone has all of these qualities and more.  I devoured this book in a day and now find myself missing the characters and their lives.  The Opposite of Everyone is a moving story of life, love, and family.  Utterly fantastic!

Paula Vauss, our main character, is now a tough and successful divorce attorney but as a young girl she was named Kali Jai by her hippy mom and she led anything but a stable life.  Her mother had a tendency to move around when the situation warranted it whether Paula wanted to or not.  This made Paula angry and more than a little rebellious.  Feeling overwhelmed with what seems to be yet another move Paula does something that changes all of their lives forever.

Years and years go by without Paula and her mother having any contact other than the check Paula  sends her every month.  Paula feels that she ruined her mother’s life and that’s why there is no contact yet the checks are cashed every month until one isn’t and Paula learns that her mother is dying.  Paula is full of mixed emotions that only become even more complicated as several events occur that make her reevaluate everything she ever knew about her mother and herself.

In present Paula is a fiercely independent woman who plans on staying that way.  Yet she still feels so much for Birdwine who is her private investigator and past lover.  He agrees to help her and as they work together old feelings come to light once again.  As the story goes from Paula’s past to present we learn how Paula came to be who she is and how her free spirited young life made her the woman she became.

I listened to the audiobook of The Opposite of Everyone which is narrated by Joshilyn Jackson herself.  She is a fantastic as a narrator.  I love her voice in which you can just feel her personality pouring out. She really makes a story seem like you, as the reader, are living within it and I love that.

For lovers of women’s fiction The Opposite of Everyone comes highly recommended.  I loved it!

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Buy: HarperCollins, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

 

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Source: Review copy provided by HarperCollins for an honest review. No compensation was received. Audiobook personal copy.
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Filed Under: 2016 - 100+ Books, 2016 Audiobook Reviews, 2016 Book Reviews, TLC Tours

The Girl Who Fought Napoleon by Linda Lafferty – Book Spotlight & Giveaway (US/Canada)

October 13, 2016 by Darlene

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The Girl Who Fought Napoleon by Linda Lafferty is a great pick for historical fiction fans.  Here’s a bit about the book and be sure to enter the giveaway for your chance to win a copy!

About the Book

In a sweeping story straight out of Russian history, Tsar Alexander I and a courageous girl named Nadezhda Durova join forces against Napoleon.

It’s 1803, and an adolescent Nadya is determined not to follow in her overbearing Ukrainian mother’s footsteps. She’s a horsewoman, not a housewife. When Tsar Paul is assassinated in St. Petersburg and a reluctant and naive Alexander is crowned emperor, Nadya runs away from home and joins the Russian cavalry in the war against Napoleon. Disguised as a boy and riding her spirited stallion, Alcides, Nadya rises in the ranks, even as her father begs the tsar to find his daughter and send her home.

Both Nadya and Alexander defy expectations—she as a heroic fighter and he as a spiritual seeker—while the battles of Austerlitz, Friedland, Borodino, and Smolensk rage on.

In a captivating tale that brings Durova’s memoirs to life, from bloody battlefields to glittering palaces, two rebels dare to break free of their expected roles and discover themselves in the process.

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Buy: Amazon, Books-a-Million, Barnes & Noble

About the Author

nap-1Linda Lafferty was a teacher for nearly three decades, in schools from Madrid, Spain, to Aspen, Colorado. She completed her PhD in bilingual special education and worked in that field; she also taught English as a second language and bilingual American history. Linda is the author of four previous novels—The Bloodletter’s Daughter, The Drowning Guard, House of Bathory, and The Shepherdess of Siena—all of which have been translated into several languages. The Drowning Guard won the Colorado Book Award for Historical Fiction. She lives in Colorado with her husband.

GIVEAWAY – OPEN TO US & CANADIAN RESIDENTS
1 copy up for giveaway
*CLICK HERE* and fill out the form to enter
Draw Date October 29/16

 

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Source: All post information and giveaway obtained from TLC Book Tours.  No compensation was received.
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Filed Under: Book Spotlights, TLC Tours

Yesternight by Cat Winters (Audiobook)

October 7, 2016 by Darlene

yesternightHaving read The Uninvited by Cat Winters and loving it I was really excited to read Yesternight. What a fantastic story! Cat Winters has become one of my favorite authors and I eagerly wait for each new book she writes. I began Yesternight in the morning and finished it by the end of the day. I could not listen fast enough as the story unfolded and became more and more intriguing with each passing moment. This particular novel is historical fiction with a mystical element that is sure to please any reader.

The setting is Gordon Bay, Oregon and it’s 1925 and our main character Alice Lind is arriving there to administer IQ tests to the schoolchildren. Alice is an independent woman; a trained psychologist in a time when women didn’t generally hold positions like that. Of course as a psychologist Alice believes that any abnormalities of a person’s mind can be explained but in meeting one particular child in Gordon Bay she finds her views changing.

Alice meets seven-year-old Janie O’Daire and finds her an extraordinary child. Not only is she a mathematical genius but she also claims to have lived another life where her name was Violet, she was nineteen, and she drowned. Janie’s parents are terrified she’ll be found crazy and taken from them but Alice doesn’t believe the child is crazy and with more evidence Alice begins to believe in the unbelievable to a psychologist – that Janie is the reincarnation of Violet. As the mysteries of Janie unfold Alice begins to discover things about herself and her own past that change her life and her future.

Yesternight is one of those books I love. The ones I can’t put down and think about days later. As I said earlier I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Xe Sands. I love listening to any book she narrates. She has a wonderful voice to listen to and always does a great job of bringing a story alive in my mind. I would recommend this novel to those who like historical fiction, mysteries, and really to anyone. It was that good. Highly recommended!

Other tour stops with TLC Book Tours
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Author links: Website, tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Buy: HarperCollins, Amazon, B&N

 

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Source: Review copy received from HarperCollins for an honest review. No compensation was received. Audiobook personal copy.
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Filed Under: 2016 - 100+ Books, 2016 Audiobook Reviews, 2016 Book Reviews, TLC Tours

The Bone Tree by Greg Iles (Audiobook)

September 22, 2016 by Darlene

The Bone Tree by Greg Iles is the second book in the trilogy that started with Natchez Burning.  Both novels are phenomenal and once again I couldn’t listen fast enough to see what would happen next.

The Bone Tree continues right where Natchez Burning ended. Now I listened to them back to back so it was easy for me to pick up the story right away but even so the author recaps the first novel nicely and there is no problem picking up the storyline. However I would still recommend reading Natchez Burning first as you need the back story. There is no way to go on without minor spoilers so if you are going to read the series you may not want to go on.

The evil lurking in Natchez has been exposed. Penn, his father, his fiancé, and others have worked hard to make it so. In doing so they’ve caused even more chaos and danger. Many who have been exposed are people with a legal right to power and even more terrifying they use it to their benefit. There are so many secrets, lies, betrayals, and killings that this story keeps the reader turning the pages as fast as they can.

I can’t recommend this series enough. The plot and characters are simply amazing. Once again I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Robert Petkoff and he does such a great job of bringing this story alive and at more than 32 hours that’s a good thing. Highly recommended!

Other tour stops with TLC Book Tours
Add to your Goodreads list
Author links: Website, Twitter, Facebook
Buy: HarperCollins, Amazon, B&N

Source: A copy was provided by the published in turn for an honest review. Audiobook personal copy. No compensation as received.

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Filed Under: 2016 - 100+ Books, 2016 Audiobook Reviews, 2016 Book Reviews, TLC Tours

The Perfect Girl by Gilly MacMillan (Audiobook)

September 14, 2016 by Darlene

perfectZoe Maisey is a musical prodigy – a genius but she is also carrying with her a troubled past.  She caused the death of three teens due to being intoxicated.  She’s done her time and is free now.  She wants to begin living her life again and she starts with what should be the performance of her life.  However chaos erupts when an unexpected visitor shows up and by the end of the night Zoe’s life will never be the same as her mother is found dead.

I enjoyed this book although not quite as much as the author’s first book What She Knew. While this is a thriller I think I was expecting a bit more thrill.  I also found that it was hard to connect to the characters other than Zoe’s aunt.  Many of the characters are quite unlikable but that’s not an issue.  Quite often that’s what makes a book more exciting.  With the main character Zoe I sympathized with her in many ways but many of her actions left me questioning just who she was and what she was doing.

I listened to the audiobook of The Perfect Girl and it is really well done.  It’s narrated by Penelope Rawlins (who I have listened to and enjoyed before) and Dugald Bruce-Lockhart.  They do a great job of immersing the reader in the various aspects of this story.

Overall I really enjoyed this book.  Once I started listening to it I didn’t want to stop as I needed to know what was going to happen.  It does highlight how difficult it can be to start a new life and move on after a tragic incident.  Secrets and lies can lead to devastation and destroy the Second Chance Life that the characters so desire.  Recommended for those who enjoy psychological thrillers.

Other tour stops with TLC Book Tours
Add to your Goodreads list
Author links: Website, Facebook, Twitter
Buy: HarperCollins, Amazon, B&N

 

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Source: Review copy received from HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours. Audiobook personal copy. No compensation was received.
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Filed Under: 2016 - 100+ Books, 2016 Audiobook Reviews, 2016 Book Reviews, TLC Tours

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