Starlight on Willow Lake, by Susan Wiggs (@susanwiggs) #review #TLCBookTours #giveaway

17 September 2015 by Melissa

About the book, Starlight on Willow Lake

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Mira (August 25, 2015)

Join #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs on a journey to a charming Catskills town that feels like home and where a cast of brilliantly drawn characters awaits in a poignant story of reconciliation and the healing power of love.

When caregiver Faith McCallum arrives at the enchanted lakeside estate of Avalon’s renowned Bellamy family, she’s intent on rebuilding her shattered life and giving her two daughters a chance at a better future. But she faces a formidable challenge in the form of her stubborn and difficult new employer, Alice Bellamy. While Faith proves a worthy match for her sharp-tongued client, she often finds herself at a loss for words in the presence of Mason Bellamy—Alice’s charismatic son, who clearly longs to escape the family mansion and return to his fast-paced, exciting life in Manhattan…and his beautiful, jet-setting fiancée.

The last place Mason wants to be is a remote town in the Catskills, far from his life in the city, and Faith McCallum is supposed to be the key to his escape. Hiring the gentle-hearted yet strong-willed caregiver as a live-in nurse gives his mother companionship and Mason the freedom to return to his no-attachments routine. For Faith, it means stability for her daughters and a much-needed new home. When Faith makes a chilling discovery about Alice’s accident, Mason is forced to reconsider his desire to keep everyone, including his mother, at a distance. Now he finds himself wondering if the supercharged life he’s created for himself is what he truly wants…and whether exploring his past might lead to a new life—and lasting love—on the tranquil shores of Willow Lake.

Buy, read and discuss Starlight on Willow Lake

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Susan Wiggs

Susan Wiggs is the author of many beloved bestsellers, including the popular Lakeshore Chronicles series. She has won many awards for her work, including a RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America.

Connect with Susan

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

Knowing that this was from Mira, one of the many divisions of Harlequin, I was a little bit worried that Starlight on Willow Lake would be overly romantic. What a delightful surprise to find that it was, instead, about the just-as-strong love that exists between family members, with just a soupçon of romance for flavor.

Having been previously unfamiliar with author Susan Wiggs’s Lakeshore Chronicles, I was also a bit wary about jumping into an established series, not at the beginning. This concern proved to be unfounded, as each book is written to be enjoyed either as a stand-alone novel or as part of the greater whole. (I like this recent trend in contemporary fiction, of creating towns or using established cities and placing a string of novels there. It means less worldbuilding because oh, hey, that cafe/bar/beach already exists, and more focus on plot and character. As well, it means you have a sense of familiarity as you explore an author’s entire collection, as I tend to do.)

As much as I really liked Faith, as a mother, as a professional caregiver, and just as a person, I felt that the novel was really more Mason’s story in a lot of ways – his instinctive pushing people away to protect both himself and them, and his growth as he learns that pulling people closer is a much healthier response most of the time. I enjoyed his relationship with his siblings, with Alice, his mother, and with Faith, though I felt his fiancée was a bit more of a plot device than a fully fledged person.

Aside from the fiancée (see, I don’t even remember her name; I’m horrible), I thought all of the characters were incredibly well drawn, and felt like people you might encounter in a lakeside community in the Catskills, or in any other small town.

Author Wiggs also crafted a plot that was well-paced and truly interesting to read. Capturing the different nuances of all these different, interconnected relationships, not the least Faith and Alice as well as Faith and Mason, was done with great delicacy and precision. It’s easy to see why her work is so popular: it deserves to be.

If you’re looking for a traditional romance, this is not the novel for you.

If, however, you want to spend time getting to know some really compelling characters, and learning their stories, you should run, not walk, to your favorite bookstore (or bookstore’s website) and buy a copy today.

Goes well with fresh-caught trout, grilled to perfection, a baked potato, and a glass of chilled chardonnay.

Want a copy of Starlight on Willow Lake for your very own?

One lucky reader from the United States or Canada will win a copy. To be a contender, leave a comment on this post and/or retweet the twitter post I make about this review (with the link intact), by 11:59 pm CDT on Wednesday, September 23rd. Be sure to use a working email address if you comment.

Winners will be contacted by email before being publically announced. If your name is selected (I use a highly scientific method that involves one of my dogs pulling pieces of paper from a basket), your name and mailing address will be forwarded to TLC Book Tours, who will, in turn, forward it to the publisher’s representative who will fulfill your prize claim. This will not happen until the tour is complete, and it may take several weeks for the book to arrive.

Review tour for STARLIGHT ON WILLOW LAKE:

Monday, August 24th: Book Reviews & More by Kathy

Tuesday, August 25th: The Sassy Bookster

Wednesday, August 26th: Romancing the Book

Friday, August 28th: The Bookish and The Romantic

Monday, August 31st: Raven Haired Girl

Tuesday, September 1st: The Sassy Bookster – author guest post

Tuesday, September 1st: Books and Spoons

Tuesday, September 1st: Written Love Reviews

Thursday, September 3rd: Kritter’s Ramblings

Friday, September 4th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Friday, September 4th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, September 7th: A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, September 8th: Bookchickdi

Wednesday, September 9th: Mignon Mykel Reviews

Thursday, September 10th: Mom in Love with Fiction

Thursday, September 10th: Luxury Reading

Friday, September 11th: Not In Jersey

Monday, September 14th: Book Babe

Wednesday, September 16th: Snowdrop Dreams of Books

Thursday, September 17th: Bibliotica

Friday, September 18th: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

TBD: Urban Girl Reader

TBD: Books a la Mode – author guest post

TBD: Booked on a Feeling

Berlin Coffee Shop by Gerlis Zillgens, translated by Shamila Cohen #review #quickreview

10 September 2015 by Melissa

About the book, Berlin Coffee Shop

Follow Sandra and friends as they navigate life, love, and their late-twenties in Germany’s hip Berlin.In this episode, Sandra, a self-employed “finder of things,” is in urgent need of a “real” office. Her parents have suddenly appeared on her doorstep and want to see the workspace they’ve so generously funded. What they don’t know, is that Sandra’s “office” is just a table in Captain’s café, Coffee Shop, and she has used their money for other purposes. Nils brainstorms a quick fix: how about staging her best friend, Claudi’s apartment? There’s just one problem standing in the way: Claudi’s landlord. Things only take a turn for the worse when Captain tosses her and the Doric columns out of the coffee shop. Once again, Nils has a solution: the key to Captain’s storeroom.The Coffee Shop – a cozy café in Germany’s capital, Berlin – just happens to be the best office in the world. From here, Sandra practices her quirky trade as a “finder-of things.” She caters to customers who have lost or want to find something that’s missing from their lives. Doric Colums as an engagement gift? Check. Missing childhood photos? Done. But in her quest to grant other people’s wishes, Sandra suddenly finds herself in search of her own happiness – and of herself. Toss in a dead goose, and it’s the perfect recipe for romantic disaster.

Berlin Coffee Shop is a new digital serial novel for fans of “Sex and the City,” “Friends,” and “How I met your Mother.” The story is told in six parts, as each novella builds upon the next.

Buy, read, and discuss Berlin Coffee Shop

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

My Thoughts

I downloaded this from NetGalley because I always love to read about coffee shop and cafe culture, and I was immediately hooked on this – part one of a six part ‘digital serial novel.’ I think it’s an innovative use of ebooks, as well as being a great story.

As someone who has been known to take up residence at a favorite table in a cozy cafe, I thought Sandra’s story, and her ‘office’ being just such a table was particularly relevant, and I found the overall story hilariously funny and very plausible for a heightened realty universe.

I haven’t read the subsequent five ‘episodes’ in this series, but the first one was presented in a manner that was quite cinematic. If this isn’t made into an actual tv show, someone should consider making it into a web series, because the characters were engaging, the dialogue (in translation) was snappy, and the premise is fresh and fun.

Goes well with a double cappuccino and a slice of cheesecake.

The Uninvited by Cat Winters (@catwinters) #review #TLCBookTours #TheUninvited

7 August 2015 by Melissa

About the book, The Uninvited

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 11, 2015)

Twenty-five-year-old Ivy Rowan rises from her sickbed after being struck by the great influenza epidemic of 1918, only to discover that the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.

But Ivy’s lifelong gift—or curse—remains. She sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked for and unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918, Ivy sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death in the Great War of Ivy’s other brother, Billy.

Horrified, she leaves home and soon realizes that the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for today, because they could be stricken by nightfall. She even enters into a relationship with the murdered German man’s brother, Daniel Schendel. But as her “uninvited guests” begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once again, and terrifying secrets will unfold.

Buy, read, and discuss The Uninvited

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Cat Winters

Cat Winters’s debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, was released to widespread critical acclaim. The novel has been named a finalist for the 2014 Morris Award, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013, and a Booklist 2013 Top 10 Horror Fiction for Youth. Winters lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children.

Connect with Cat

Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

My Thoughts

From the first page there’s a slow, sort of watery feeling to this book, as if you’re seeing everything through a lens coated with vaseline, or looking through pond ripples, are recovering from a deadly fever. Its a feeling that is obviously intentional, as even a few scenes that should be brutal have a touch of unreality to them – not in the sense that they’re not plausible – but in the sense that a sort of dream-state is still lingering. Partly, this is because protagonist Ivy can see ghosts, and her long-dead grandmother has just visited. This means someone else’s life has been lost.

As we are introduced to Ivy and her family, all reacting to the combined forces of an influenza epidemic that has taken over their small town, and the war that would come to be known as World War I having taken over the planet, that watery feeling pays off. Ivy has had the flu, and when she overhears that her father and brother have murdered the German owner of a local furniture store, she insists she has to leave home. (She is, after all, twenty-five.)

Author Cat Winters has a great feel for tone. Ivy’s walk felt ploddingly long and her arrival at the hotel was such a relief but the other-ness of the story never really left, so much as it was driven back to the corners as Ivy claimed her own agency.

The characters we meet later, especially Lucas, May, and Daniel, are all fascinating studies in extremes – the fervent idealistic patriot, the wounded widow, the immigrant who fees downtrodden – they are archetypes, but they are also so much more. Rich and layered, all the characters in this novel feel like people we all might have been related to, once upon a time. That sense of familiarity makes them seem all the more dimensional. It’s quite a trick.

I felt The Uninvited was well paced, and well plotted. I especially liked the way the twist near the end was handled so subtly. Like M. Night Shyamalan’s vintage work (you know, back when his stuff was good) the clues are all there, and things that are easily missed on a first read seem painfully obvious once all is revealed.

I’m not sure if this novel is horror or supernatural romance or kind of both…but it was a gripping read, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Goes well with homemade apple pie, served warm with vanilla bean ice cream and a cup of strong coffee.

Cat’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, August 4th: 100 Pages a Day … Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Thursday, August 6th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, August 7th: Bibliotica

Monday, August 10th: Kritters Ramblings

Tuesday, August 11th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, August 12th: Jenn’s Booshelves

Thursday, August 13th: Bookshelf Fantasies

Thursday, August 13th: Sidewalk Shoes

Monday, August 17th: The Reader’s Hollow

Tuesday, August 18th: Bibliophilia, Please

Wednesday, August 19th: Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, August 20th: Raven Haired Girl

Friday, August 21st: A Chick Who Reads

The Memory Painter, by Gwendolyn Womack (@Gwen_Womack) #BookBlast #Giveaway

10 July 2015 by Melissa

About the book, The Memory Painter

Publisher: Picador (April 28, 2015)
Formats: eBook, Hardcover, Audio
Pages: 336
Genre: Supernatural Historical Thriller/Romance

What if there was a drug that could help you remember past lives?

What if the lives you remembered could lead you to your one true love?

What if you learned that, for thousands of years, a deadly enemy had conspired to keep the two of you apart?

Bryan Pierce is an internationally famous artist whose paintings have dazzled the world. But there’s a secret to his success: Every canvas is inspired by an unusually vivid dream. When Bryan awakes, he possesses extraordinary new skills…like the ability to speak obscure languages and an inexplicable genius for chess. All his life, he has wondered if his dreams are recollections, if he is re-experiencing other people’s lives.

Linz Jacobs is a brilliant neurogeneticist, absorbed in decoding the genes that help the brain make memories, until she is confronted with an exact rendering of a recurring nightmare at one of Bryan’s shows. She tracks down the elusive artist, and their meeting triggers Bryan’s most powerful dream yet: visions of a team of scientists who, on the verge of discovering a cure for Alzheimer’s, died in a lab explosion decades ago.

As Bryan becomes obsessed with the mysterious circumstances surrounding the scientists’ deaths, his dreams begin to reveal what happened at the lab, as well as a deeper mystery that may lead all the way to ancient Egypt. Together, Bryan and Linz start to discern a pattern. But a deadly enemy watches their every move, and he will stop at nothing to ensure that the past stays buried.

A taut thriller and a timeless love story spanning six continents and 10,000 years of history, The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack is a riveting debut novel unlike any you’ve ever read.

Buy, read, and discuss The Memory Painter

Read an Excerpt of The Memory Painter

CLICK TO READ AN EXCERPT.

Watch the official book trailer for The Memory Keeper

About the Author Gwendolyn Womack

Originally from Houston, Texas, Gwendolyn Womack began writing theater plays in college while freezing in the tundra at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. During that time she lived in St. Petersburg, Russia on an independent study working with theater companies. She went on to receive an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Directing theater and film where she was encouraged to write her own material. After graduating she focused on writing feature screenplays and was a semi-finalist in the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship. In 2009 she moved to Japan and began THE MEMORY PAINTER the following year. Currently she resides in Los Angeles with her husband and son where she can be found at the keyboard working on her next novel.

THE MEMORY PAINTER is her first novel.

Connect with Gwendolyn

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Twitter

Giveaway

To enter to win a signed copy of The Memory Painter, please enter via the GLEAM form below.

Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on July 15th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open internationally.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

The Memory Painter

The Memory Painter Book Blast Schedule

Wednesday, July 1
Passages to the Past

Thursday, July 2
The Never-Ending Book
What Is That Book About

Friday, July 3
Bibliophilia, Please

Saturday, July 4
The Reading Queen

Sunday, July 5
CelticLady’s Reviews

Monday, July 6
Oh, for the Hook of a Book!

Tuesday, July 7
A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, July 8
A Bookish Affair
Book Lovers Paradise

Thursday, July 9
Room With Books

Friday, July 10
Bibliotica

Saturday, July 11
Just One More Chapter

Sunday, July 12
Broken Teepee

Monday, July 13
100 Pages a Day

Wednesday, July 15
Genre Queen

Between a Rock and a Hard Place, by Marty Wingate #review @netgalley #comingsoon

8 July 2015 by Melissa

About the book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Publisher: Alibi (August 4, 2015)
Pages: 288

Perfect for fans of Laura Childs, Ellery Adams, and Jenn McKinlay, Marty Wingate’s enchanting Potting Shed Mystery series heads to Scotland as Pru Parke plans her wedding . . . all while a vengeful murderer is poised to strike again.

After her romantic idyll with the debonair Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse culminates in a marriage proposal, Pru Parke sets about arranging their nuptials while diving into a short-term gig at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. At hand is the authentication of a journal purportedly penned by eighteenth-century botanist and explorer Archibald Menzies. Compared to the chaos of wedding planning, studying the journal is an agreeable task . . . that is, until a search for a missing cat leads to the discovery of a dead body: One of Pru’s colleagues has been conked on the head with a rock and dumped from a bridge into the Water of Leith.

Pru can’t help wondering if the murder has something to do with the Menzies diary. Is the killer covering up a forgery? Among the police’s many suspects are a fallen aristocrat turned furniture maker, Pru’s overly solicitous assistant, even Pru herself. Now, in the midst of sheer torture by the likes of flamboyant wedding dress designers and eccentric church organists, Pru must also uncover the work of a sly murderer—unless this bride wants to walk down the aisle in handcuffs.

Buy, read, and discuss Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Marty Wingate

Marty Wingate is the author of The Garden Plot and a regular contributor to Country Gardens as well as other magazines. She also leads gardening tours throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and North America. More Potting Shed mysteries are planned.

My Thoughts

This is the third in Marty Wingate’s Potting Shed Mystery series, and the first I didn’t get via TLC Book Stores, but direct from Alibi through NetGalley. I love the series – solid mysteries with just enough romance to keep things interesting, but this one didn’t wow me as much as the first two, and I think it was because Pru spent so much time doing research, and so little time doing actual gardening. In past novels, I was treated to descriptions of lush gardens, so vividly represented by the author’s text that at times I could feel the wet ground beneath my feet, and smell the fresh soil or sweet blossoms. In this novel, there isn’t as much of that, and I found that the gardening, indeed the gardens, had become additional characters.

Aside from that, this is a lovely novel, the perfect read for a cozy rainy weekend, or even a lazy evening in the tub. I enjoyed visiting with Pru and Christopher again, and seeing the evolution of their relationship, but I also enjoyed meeting some new friends – Madame Fiona, the dressmaker, and Marcus, Pru’s old friend from back home (and her ex) – stand out. We also got to see her friend Jo once more, and I’d forgotten how much I’d enjoyed the interaction of the two women.

The mystery itself was solid as ever. I’m sorry we didn’t get more scenes in the Botanic Gardens, but I was kept guessing whodunnit through most of the novel, and was happy with the resolution of the puzzle. Pru’s detection skills were absolutely on point, and I felt the jeopardy she was in growing throughout the story.

Three books in, spending time with a Potting Shed Mystery is as satisfying as spending the afternoon with a group of friends at a favorite pub. Comfortably familiar but with no shortage of new stories to share. I’m looking forward to book four.

Goes well with Split pea soup with ham, and cheddar bread fresh from the oven.

The Wrong Man by Kate White (@katemwhite) #review @tlcbooktours

29 June 2015 by Melissa

About the book The Wrong Man

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; First Edition edition (June 16, 2015)

She wanted to be more daring, but one small risk is about to cost her everything—maybe even her life.

Bold and adventurous in her work as owner of one of Manhattan’s boutique interior design firms, Kit Finn couldn’t be tamer in her personal life. While on vacation in the Florida Keys, Kit resolves to do something risky for once. When she literally bumps into a charming stranger at her hotel, she decides to make good on her promise and act on her attraction.

But back in New York, when Kit arrives at his luxury apartment ready to pick up where they left off in the Keys, she doesn’t recognize the man standing on the other side of the door.

Was this a cruel joke or part of something truly sinister? Kit soon realizes that she’s been thrown into a treacherous plot, which is both deeper and deadlier than she could have ever imagined. Now the only way to protect herself, her business, and the people she loves is to find out the true identity of the man who has turned her life upside down.

Adrenaline-charged and filled with harrowing twists at every turn, The Wrong Man will keep readers riveted until the final page.

Buy, read, and discuss The Wrong Man

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Kate White

Kate White, the former editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, is the New York Times bestselling author of the stand-alone novelsHush, The Sixes, and Eyes on You, as well as the Bailey Weggins mystery series. She is editor of The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. She is also the author of popular career books for women, including I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: How to Ask for the Money, Snag the Promotion, and Create the Career You Deserve.

Connect with Kate

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

What a great read! From the first moment Kit woke up on the last full day of her island vacation wishing for something a little bit dangerous to happen, I was hooked on this story. Kit was a completely sympathetic character – she could be any contemporary woman stuck between relationships, and with a busy, but fulfilling career. She seemed like someone I’d have coffee with, or hire to redo my house, or both, and the women she worked with were equally interesting and vivid people.

Then there were the men in the story – from the fellow guest at her hotel, to the techies and corporate types at the Ithaka Corporation – all of them interesting, mysterious, and a little bit (in some cases a lot) dangerous.

I thought this novel’s plot was well crafted, and the pacing was nearly perfect. I could easily see this book as a feature film, and I don’t think it would suffer from translation from one medium to another.

If you want a gripping, fast, fun, mystery/thriller, The Wrong Man is the right choice.

Goes well with coconut shrimp, a green salad, and a chilled lager.

Kate’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, June 16th: Raven Haired Girl

Wednesday, June 17th: A Bookish Way of Life

Thursday, June 18th: FictionZeal

Friday, June 19th: Books That Hook

Monday, June 22nd: Book Him Danno!

Tuesday, June 23rd: Many Hats

Wednesday, June 24th: Living in the Kitchen with Puppies

Thursday, June 25th: Kissin Blue Karen

Friday, June 26th: Booked on a Feeling

Monday, June 29th: Bibliotica

Tuesday, June 30th: Book Hooked Blog

Wednesday, July 1st: Always With a Book

Friday, July 3rd: Why Girls Are Weird

The Rhyme of the Magpie, by Marty Wingate #review @tlcbooktours #giveaway

17 June 2015 by Melissa

About the book, The Rhyme of the Magpie: A Birds of a Feather Mystery

Published by: Alibi (June 02, 2015)
Pages: 224

For readers of Laura Childs, Ellery Adams, and Jenn McKinlay, the high-flying new Birds of a Feather mystery series from Marty Wingate begins as a British woman gets caught up in a dangerous plot when her celebrity father disappears.

With her personal life in disarray, Julia Lanchester feels she has no option but to quit her job on her father’s hit BBC Two nature show, A Bird in the Hand. Accepting a tourist management position in Smeaton-under-Lyme, a quaint village in the English countryside, Julia throws herself into her new life, delighting sightseers (and a local member of the gentry) with tales of ancient Romans and pillaging Vikings.

But the past is front and center when her father, Rupert, tracks her down in a moment of desperation. Julia refuses to hear him out; his quick remarriage after her mother’s death was one of the reasons Julia flew the coop. But later she gets a distressed call from her new stepmum: Rupert has gone missing. Julia decides to investigate—she owes him that much, at least—and her father’s new assistant, the infuriatingly dapper Michael Sedgwick, offers to help. Little does the unlikely pair realize that awaiting them is a tightly woven nest of lies and murder.

Buy, read and discuss The Rhyme of the Magpie

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Marty Wingate

Marty Wingate is the author of The Garden Plot and The Red Book of Primrose House, and a regular contributor to Country Gardens as well as other magazines. She also leads gardening tours throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and North America. More Birds of a Feather mysteries are planned.

My Thoughts

I’ve been a fan of Marty Wingate’s since I cracked open the first of her Potting Shed mysteries, so when I was offered the chance to review this book, the first in a new series, I jumped at it. I have t admit, it took me a while to warm up to the new characters and premise.

Once I did warm up to Julia and her life, I was hooked. I love the use of the magpies as a recurring theme, and the way birds, signs, and portents are all woven together. I thought each character, even those we don’t spend a lot of time with were distinct and dimensional.

Wingate has a special knack for vivid descriptions of place – you can smell the rain when the air is damp, and you can feel your feet squelching through soggy soil, or crunching over gravel. She also has an excellent ear for dialogue, to the point where I could hear the characters’ accents in my head – and no, they’re not all generic-sounding ‘received’ pronunciation. That she manages to do this without writing much in dialect always impresses me.

Marty Wingate might just be the new Queen of the Cozy, but her cozy mysteries are deceptive in that they balance quaint village live with strong female characters who achieve self-significance while still maintaining femininity.

Long may she reign.

Goes well with proper fish and chips, and a hand-crafted lager.

Giveaway

This tour includes a Rafflecopter giveaway for a $25 e-gift card and a copy of the book! Enter to win.

<a class=”rcptr” href=”http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/235babe7211/” rel=”nofollow” data-raflid=”235babe7211″ data-theme=”classic” data-template=”” id=”rcwidget_dg411b68″>a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>

Marty Wingate’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Tuesday, June 2nd: 5 Minutes for Books

Tuesday, June 2nd: Mystery Playground

Wednesday, June 3rd: A Bookish Way of Life

Wednesday, June 3rd: Buried Under Books

Thursday, June 4th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Friday, June 5th: Kahakai Kitchen

Friday, June 5th: Back Porchervations

Wednesday, June 10th: Reading Reality

Thursday, June 11th: Joyfully Retired

Friday, June 12th: From the TBR Pile

Monday, June 15th: A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, June 16th: Bell, Book & Candle

Wednesday, June 17th: Bibliotica – That’s ME!

Thursday, June 18th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Tuesday, June 23rd: FictionZeal

Wednesday, June 24th: 2 Kids and Tired

The Canterbury Sisters, by Kim Wright (@Kim_Wright_W) #review @NetGalley

1 June 2015 by Melissa

About the book, The Canterbury Sisters

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books (May 19, 2015)

In the vein of Jojo Moyes and Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, a warm and touching novel about a woman who embarks on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral after losing her mother, sharing life lessons—in the best Chaucer tradition—with eight other women along the way.

Che Milan’s life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives, along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage.

Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the sixty miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, reputed to be the site of miracles. In the best Chaucer tradition, the women swap stories as they walk, each vying to see who can best describe true love. Che, who is a perfectionist and workaholic, loses her cell phone at the first stop and is forced to slow down and really notice the world around her, perhaps for the first time in years.

Through her adventures along the trail, Che finds herself opening up to new possibilities in life and discovers that the miracles of Canterbury can take surprising forms.

Buy, read, and discuss The Canterbury Sisters

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Kim Wright

Kim Wright is the author of Love in Mid Air, The Unexpected Waltz, and The Canterbury Sisters. Loving dogs, wine, travel, mediation and ballroom dance.

Connect with Kim

Twitter | Goodreads

My Thoughts

My first introduction to Kim Wright’s work was years ago, when I reviewed Love in Mid Air, just before my 40th birthday. Five years later, and just a couple months before I reach 45, I requested this title from NetGalley, and was delighted to be approved.

Wright’s writing style has matured a little (as have we all) in the five years since I first began reading her; she was great before, now, she’s damned near perfect. As is The Canterbury Sisters.

I took a class in Chaucer when I was in college, and, of course, I’d read his unfinished novel The Canterbury Tales before that, as all well-rounded readers should do, so I wasn’t surprised when the diverse group of women on the “Broads Abroad” trip to walk the Canterbury Trail agreed to take turns telling stories. What did surprise me – pleasantly so – was how distinct each woman was, and how their stories were both specific to each character, but universal to all women.

Of course, I was most interested in Che, because she’s the POV character, and it’s her through eyes that we meet the other women in her group – a group she remains on the fringes of, throughout the novel, as she deals, not just with the walk itself, but with the recent loss of her free-spirited, feminist mother (who, actually, reminded me a lot of my own mother, but only in a good way), and the fact that her longtime lover has dumped her. On top of it, she managed to leave her phone somewhere, which just increases her sense of isolation. (And, I confess, I was twitching on her behalf, tech-addict that I am.)

While the novel is peppered with interesting tidbits about Chaucer, Beckett, Canterbury, etc., it is absolutely a contemporary story, one where there are few male characters, except at the periphery of things. It’s not specifically women’s fiction (and I do so hate that term), but it’s fiction of and about women, and I found it refreshing that there was no goal of finding true romance. If anything, all these characters were on a mission to find peace, love, and happiness with, and within, themselves.

The Canterbury Sisters made me wish I were better at making women-friends, and gave me a deeper appreciation for the women – friends and relatives – already in my life.

Goes well with a hearty peasant’s pie and a glass of hard cider.

The Predictions, by Bianca Zander (@biancazander) #review @TLCBookTours

18 May 2015 by Melissa

About the book The Predictions

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (May 5, 2015)

Gaialands, a bucolic vegan commune in the New Zealand wilderness, is the only home fifteen-year-old Poppy has ever known. It’s the epitome of 1970s counterculture—a place of free love, hard work, and high ideals . . . at least in theory. But Gaialands’s strict principles are shaken when new arrival Shakti claims the commune’s energy needs to be healed and harnesses her divination powers in a ceremony called the Predictions. Poppy is predicted to find her true love overseas, so when her boyfriend, Lukas, leaves Gaialands to fulfill his dream of starting a punk rock band in London, she follows him. In London, Poppy falls into a life that looks very like the one her prediction promised, but is it the one she truly wants?

The Predictions is a mesmerizing, magical novel of fate, love, mistakes, and finding your place in the world.

Buy, read, and discuss The Predictions

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Bianca Zander

Bianca Zander is British-born but has lived in New Zealand for the past two decades. Her first novel, The Girl Below, was a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and she is the recipient of the Creative New Zealand Louis Johnson New Writers’ Bursary and the Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship, recognizing her as one of New Zealand’s eminent writers. She is a lecturer in creative writing at the Auckland University of Technology.

Connect with Bianca

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

I was a bit trepidatious as I began reading Bianca Zander’s The Predictions, concerned that the entire novel would be pervaded by that “smells like Ren-Faire” feeling of too much patchouli and not enough common sense, as can so often happen when depicting life on a commune, but I needn’t have worried, because the main character, Poppy, leaped off the page, grabbed me by the hand, and took me with her on a journey that, ultimately wasn’t about the facts of growing up in an ‘alternative’ lifestyle, but the universal truth of finding our own definitions of ‘home’ and ‘family.’

For Poppy, both of those things are tied up in people – her younger brother Fred, who has a clubfoot, her mother Elisabeth who, like all adult members of the Gaialands commune, is referred to by her first name, and keeps her motherhood status ambiguous (though we all know Poppy is her daughter.) And then there’s Lukas, fellow commune kid turned rock musician, who is the catalyst for much of the change in Poppy’s life, as well as the anchor that keeps her entirely herself.

Mix in an earthy American hippie fortune teller (Shakti), a decent amount of globetrotting (New Zealand isn’t really a rock mecca) and a lot of growing up (we meet Poppy as an adolescent on the brink of adulthood) and you have The Predictions, an engaging, fast-paced story of love, loss, music, culture, home, family, and how we must all find our own versions of each.

Bonus points for author Zander’s use of language. All of the characters sound appropriate to the period (mid-70’s through 1989) and age-appropriate as well. Double bonus points for having Lukas utter one of my all-time favorite snarky phrases: “Perish the thought.”

I predict that you will find The Predictions interesting and engaging.

No patchouli required.

Goes well with: falafel made from organically grown chick peas, jicama sticks, and beet slaw.

Bianca’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, May 5th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, May 6th: Stephany Writes

Thursday, May 7th: From the TBR Pile

Thursday, May 14th: Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile

Monday, May 18th: In Bed with Books

Monday, May 18th: Bibliotica

Tuesday, May 19th: Living in the Kitchen with Puppies

Wednesday, May 20th: Book Loving Hippo

Thursday, May 21st: Good Girl Gone Redneck

Monday, May 25th: Every Free Chance Book Reviews

TBD: Ageless Pages Reviews

In Flames, by Richard Hilary Weber – #review #giveaway #Bibliotica

26 February 2015 by Melissa

About the book, In Flames

On Sale: February 03, 2015
Pages: 188
Published by: Alibi

In Richard H. Weber’s passionate new thriller, a smoldering mystery ignites on a tropical island as lust, murder, and politics collide.

San Iñigo is a jewel of the Caribbean, a playground paradise for the foreign elite, a hell for unfortunate locals. For recent Princeton grad Dan Shedrick, San Iñigo promises the fulfillment of too many desires.

Dan hires on at a powerful American firm as a junior architect, but still finds time for tennis, booze, a reckless affair with the sexy wife of a resort owner—even a bit of reconnaissance for the U.S. cultural attaché. But soon he discovers that nothing on San Iñigo is without consequence. When a much-loved local radio personality is found on a beach with his head blown off, Dan’s lover becomes a suspect. And not long after his foray into espionage, he’s dragged away on a brutal journey into the heart of darkness.

Buffeted by aggression, depraved ritual, and personal betrayal, Dan discovers fierce truths about San Iñigo . . . and himself. In the island’s forbidding mountain jungle, his life goes up in flames—a deadly inferno that will forever change him, if he survives at all.

Buy, read, and discuss In Flames

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million

About Richard Hilary Weber

Richard Hilary Weber, a native of Brooklyn and a Columbia University graduate, has taught at the universities of Stockholm and Copenhagen, and has been a scriptwriter for French and Swedish filmmakers. He lives in Provence, France.

My Thoughts

In Flames is labeled as a thriller, but while it was definitely a crime story, albeit on specific to certain parts of Latin America, I wouldn’t classify it as a thriller myself. Mostly this is because the story was fairly predictable. As soon as Dan arrives in San Iñigo and begins talking about the levels of crime, you know he’s going to end up getting involved.

As well, I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. Dan immediately falls into a pattern of boozing after work, and we never really see redeemable qualities in him. Erica, the wife of the Saint Ignatius Club owner, is treated more like an object than a person, and Ferg, the actual owner is only seen in small bits – we never really get to know him.

The locals aren’t treated any better. Vinny, who apparently has connections with everyone, seems more annoying than connected. The fortune teller could be interesting, but she isn’t really given the opportunity to be.

If it seems like I’m shredding this book, please understand: it’s not a bad read if you suspend disbelief at the door. There are, in fact, some things the author does really well. For example, the life of alcoholic semi-somnolence that many expats fall into is one I’ve witnessed in my visits to expat communities on the Pacific coast of Mexico, and he captures this brilliantly.

Similarly, the Club felt very real to me, with its perceived separation from the ‘locals’ and the ability to allow its patrons to act as though they’re in a remote part of Florida rather than a foreign country.

Erica’s clipboard and apparent focus on running her business seemed drawn from real life as well, in the best way possible.

Author Weber has a knack for description, but, to me, In Flames felt more like a choking campfire than a conflagration of suspense and intrigue, and I’m sorry about that, because Alibi’s offerings are usually incredibly well written, entertaining works of fiction.

I don’t want to say this book was BAD, more that…it’s a somewhat disappointing first effort from an author who has a voice but needs polish it a bit more.

Goes well with Carnitas and any rum-based tropical drink.