Tag: fiction

Stone and Silt, by Harvey Chute

stone and silt
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Red Adept Publishing.)

Harvey Chute’s first published novel, Stone and Silt, is a historical mystery set in British Columbia.

Sixteen-year-old Nikaia Wales has a white father and a native mother, so she’s always been called a “half-breed.” But her family’s love is strong, and she has a best friend that’s Chinese, so she’s used to being on the outside. Until she ends up on the bad side of the Doyles, a family known for their violent natures.

When she finds a hidden cache of gold and then a body, her troubles only grow worse. Soon her father is a suspect and Elias Doyle is eager for revenge on whoever murdered his brother. Nikaia races to find clues to clear her father’s name, before something even worse can happen to her family.

Stone and Silt is an entertaining middle-grade novel about the power of family, friends, and love.

A Girl’s Guide to Moving On, by Debbie Macomber

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(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Ballantine Books.)

 

Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestseller writer. Her newest novel, A Girl’s Guide to Moving On, hits shelves today.

Starting over isn’t easy, but having a friend in the same boat makes it a little bit easier. For Nichole, that friend is her mother-in-law, Leanne. When Nichole learns that her husband, Jake, has cheated on her, she knows her marriage is over and decides to forge a new life for herself and her young son. Inspired by Nichole’s decision, Leanne decides to stop ignoring her own husband’s unfaithfulness, and starts over as well.

Nichole juggles work, her son, and volunteer work, keeping herself busy while she heals. Then she meets Rocco, her husband’s opposite in every way. Just when things begin to progress, Jake steps in with a last-ditch effort to get Nichole back. Will she give Jake another chance, or overcome her fears of the future and choose Rocco?

Leanne has finally had too much—decades too much—of her husband’s cheating, and begins a new life as an English as a second language teacher. There she meets Nikolai, a charming Ukrainian baker. Before Leanne can put her past behind her and move forward with Nicholai, tragedy steps in, forcing Leanne to face the most difficult circumstance of her life.

A Girl’s Guide to Moving On is a sweet, inspiring read. The characters are strong, with a few chinks in their armor, as they learn what starting a new life, and love, is all about.

(Galley provided by Ballantine Books via NetGalley.)

Love Sick, by Cory Martin

love sick
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Write Out Publishing.)

 

Cory Martin wrote for the hit show The O.C., and she also wrote three young adult novels based on the show. Now she is a yoga instructor and the author of Love Sick, which hit shelves on February 9th.

Cory Martin has just about everything she ever wanted, a growing career in Hollywood, her own apartment, and yoga. She doesn’t have a man, but she has a great group of friends, and at 28, she’s got time to meet “the one.” Then she gets news from her doctor she never dreamed about: she has MS.

From having it all, now Cory feels like she has nothing. Endless rounds of doctor’s appointments for a body that has betrayed her, and she’s alone. Who’s going to want to marry someone with MS? So Cory starts dating, searching for Mr. Right as she struggles to come to terms with her new reality.

Love Sick is a poignant, emotional true story about a young woman’s struggle with a serious illness and how she comes to terms with her new reality amidst the escapades of dating and life in California.

(Galley courtesy of Write Out Publishing via NetGalley.)

Suddenly Spellbound, by Erica Lucke Dean

suddenly spellbound
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Red Adept Publishing LLC.)

 

Erica Lucke Dean dropped her career as a business banker to pursue writing in the North Georgia Mountains. Her newest book, Suddenly Spellbound, is the second book in the Ivie McKie Chronicles.

Ivie McKie has a lot going on. Her job as a kindergarten teacher is always hectic. Her marriage to Jackson is fast approaching. And her father is back from the dead. A little magic would make things so much easier. Too bad she promised Jack she wouldn’t use magic.

But growing up without her father means when her dad asks her for help with a spell, she reluctantly agrees, and finds herself in the wreckage of her dad’s lab with his hot new apprentice. Soon she finds herself drawn to the mysterious stranger with forces beyond her control, as a promise made long before she was born threatens to alter her life forever, and a clan of Scottish sorcerers appear to make sure someone gets a happily-ever-after.

Suddenly Spellbound is a light-hearted read full of Ivie’s mishaps and mistakes, as she struggles to get her life back on-track despite her father’s interference. Disasters abound, in the spirit of Bridesmaids and the Stephanie Plum novels.

(Galley provided by Red Adept Publishing LLC.)

Where My Heart Used to Beat, by Sebastian Faulks

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(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Henry Holt & Company.)

Sebastian Faulks is the award-winning author of Charlotte Gray, Devil May Care, and A Trick of the Light. His newest novel is Where My Heart Used to Beat.

Robert Hendricks, a doctor who works with psychiatric patients, has seen many things in his life, from the English countryside of his childhood to Italy in World War II. But a letter from a stranger asks him to confront everything in his past to get answers about the father he never know.

Robert’s new acquaintance leads him down memory lane as he remembers his childhood, school, war, and love in Italy during the war. Sometimes it seems he knows more about Robert than Robert does, and the painful memories bring back the hurt and loss that Robert has experienced throughout his life, as he grows ever closer to learning who his mysterious father really was.

Where My Heart Used to Beat is a poignant, introspective novel that takes the reader to the English countryside and a life that was forever changed by loss and the war.

(Galley provided by Henry Holt & Company via NetGalley.)

Series, Interrupted

How do you feel about starting a series of books…in the middle? Or at least, not at the beginning? I don’t mean deliberately, I mean you find a book that looks completely amazing, you buy it and start reading, and then you realize it’s part of a series…and not the first book.

What do you do?

Throw it down in disgust and walk away forever?

Keep reading, on the assumption that you’ll figure out what happened before?

Stop, buy and read the previous books in the series, and then read your enchanting new love?

(Is there some other option/reaction I haven’t mentioned?)

I won’t purposefully start reading in the middle of a series. Are you kidding me? And not get the whole story? And, generally, I try to ensure that whatever fabulous new book I’ve stumbled across and been intrigued by is not in the middle of a series. But it has happened. Occasionally. Recently. Like last week.

I started reading Suddenly Spellbound by Erica Lucke Dean to review it, and then realized it was not the first book in the series. Since I was reading it for something other than pure enjoyment, I kept reading, but the bits of backstory and mentions of past shenanigans bothered me, because I didn’t know the details of what had happened.

If I’d been reading just for me, I would have gone with either option one or three above. I would not have kept reading, because not knowing drives me up the wall.

So, what would you have done?

 

What I’m Reading Now: February

Reading is always a priority for me. However, I’ve been super busy lately, so it fades a bit under the need for sleep while working 12-14 hour days.  With only small increments of time at my disposal, I’m reading several things, in tiny chunks. So, here’s what I’m reading currently:

  1. Suddenly Spellbound, by Erica Lucke Dean. (Just started it, but I like the breezy voice.)
  2. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. (Will always be my favorite, but only time for a little bit at a time right now.)
  3. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. (Just a few chapters in, but I’m liking it a lot.)
  4. Beginning Theory, by Peter Barry. (Quite dense textbook.)
  5. Fatal Revenant, by Stephen R. Donaldson. (Considering this series has been around since the year I was born, I’m really loving it.)

Storm Damaged, by Kerry Adrienne

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(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Loose Id, LLC.)

Kerry Adrienne is the author of several novels in different genres. Her newest book, Storm Damaged, is a fantasy/sci-fi romance.

Humans don’t know that mermaids exist, but they have a large tribal society and prefer to keep themselves apart from humans. Except for Mari. Desperate to get away from her domineering mother and her controlling fiancé, she left life under the sea behind to open a tiny souvenir shop on the island. She’s happy there, until her landlord, Chase tells her he’s selling the bar under which her shop is located.

Suddenly Mari’s happy fantasies of a relationship with Chase, the former Navy diver who lost his brother in a diving accident and is now afraid of the ocean, go up in smoke. Chase wants to get as far away from the ocean—and memories of his brother’s death—as possible, but before he can, a hurricane moves in, trapping him and Mari on the island. Will she be able to convince him to stay, or will her sea life come back to haunt them both?

Storm Damaged is a breezy story of two people both running from something. Mari has struggled for years against her family’s expectations, as well as her fiancé, while Chase is intent on running away from what haunts him. Their journey towards each other is a fun, engaging read touched with a little bit of magic.

(Galley provided by Loose Id, LLC via NetGalley.)

Night Study, by Maria V. Snyder

B&ENight-Study
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Mira.)

 

Maria V. Snyder is the author of Study Series, the Glass Series, and the Insider Books. Her newest book, Night Study, is the second book in the new Study Series. It released yesterday.

Yelena Zaltana has always lived a dangerous life. But now, with her Soulfinder abilities gone, her life is even more dangerous than usual. Not to mention the assassins, psychopathic grudge-holding mages, and threat of war between Ixia and Sitia. Oh, and the Commander, ruler of Ixia, seems to be making questionable decisions of late. Decisions that put Yelena, Valek, and everyone they love in grave danger.

Valek has always been loyal to the Commander. But the Commander is keeping secrets. Dangerous secrets. Secrets that could cause the death of Yelena and their future as war looms. Valek must find out the truth as he struggles to protect Yelena, bereft from her magical protection, and try to prevent the war that seems inevitable as violence and betrayal looms on the horizon.

Night Study is the fifth book in the Study series of books. It picks up the tale of Yelena, former poison taster but now Soulfinder, as she struggles with the loss of her powers, trying to find out what caused the loss and how she can counteract it. The relationship between her and Valek is deeper as they fight their unseen enemies together amidst a world torn apart by lies and deception.

(Galley provided by Mira via NetGalley.)

The Winter Girl, by Matt Marinovich

the winter girl
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Doubleday Books.)

 

Matt Marinovich lives in Brooklyn and has written for numerous publications. His first novel was Strange Skies. His new novel, The Winter Girl, hit shelves on January 19th.

Scott and Elise have come to the Hamptons because her father is dying of cancer. While she spends every day at the hospital, Scott stays home, growing more down with every passing day, as he focuses on his failing marriage, his lost job, and his ailing father-in-law, who hates him. Scott becomes fascinated by the empty house next door, where lights turn on with timers in a semblance of life. Soon Scott dares to go inside, hoping for a sort of escape.

What he finds is an empty house that speaks of secrets. Secrets that excite Scott, lifting his depression. Soon he enlists Elise in his explorations, as they seek to rekindle their marriage. But things in the house next door are not what they seem, and soon Scott and Elise are seeking a different kind of escape: from the darkness that surrounds them, hiding secrets they never imagined.

The Winter Girl is dark and twisted, full of shocking revelations, insidious secrets, and a history of violence only hinted at on the surface. This book is not for the faint of heart, nor is for the reader looking for characters that are likeable and uplifting.

(Galley provided by Doubleday via NetGalley.)