Bout of Books 16 Day 4 – If You Like This, Try This

Posted in 2016, Bout of Books 16, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

So the challenge for Bout of Books 16 – Day 4 is a post about “If You Like This, Try This.” I liked this idea behind this post, though I didn’t end up doing what I had originally planned. So below are my suggestions for books by genre:

1. If You Like Romantic Suspense, then try:

Now You See Her by Linda Howard
Deadline by Sandra Brown
The Liar by Nora Roberts

2. If You Like Historical Fiction/Romance, then try:

The Vintner’s Daughter by Kristen Harnisch
Maiden Lane series by Elizabeth Hoyt
MacKenzie Family series by Jennifer Ashley

3. If You Like Contemporary Romance, then try:

Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

4. If You Like Epistolary novels, then try:

Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
Every Boy’s Got One by Meg Cabot
The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger

If any of you have more suggestions, I am always looking for new things to add to my TBR list!

7May2016

2016 Book #43 – Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, Historical fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
Author: Chris Cleave
Date finished: 5/7/16
Genre: Fiction, historical fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: May 3, 2016
Pages in book: 432
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE:I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

London, 1939.
The day war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office, and signs up.
Tom Shaw decides to ignore the war—until he learns his roommate Alistair Heath has unexpectedly enlisted. Then the conflict can no longer be avoided.
Young, bright, and brave, Mary is certain she’d be a marvelous spy. When she is—bewilderingly—made a teacher, she finds herself defying prejudice to protect the children her country would rather forget.
Tom, meanwhile, finds that he will do anything for Mary.
And when Mary and Alistair meet, it is love, as well as war, that will test them in ways they could not have imagined, entangling three lives in violence and passion, friendship and deception, inexorably shaping their hopes and dreams.
Set in London during the years of 1939–1942, when citizens had slim hope of survival, much less victory; and on the strategic island of Malta, which was daily devastated by the Axis barrage, Everyone Brave is Forgiven features little-known history and a perfect wartime love story inspired by the real-life love letters between Chris Cleave’s grandparents. This dazzling novel dares us to understand that, against the great theater of world events, it is the intimate losses, the small battles, the daily human triumphs that change us most.

My rating: 2.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book was about a group of young people and how their lives were affected by World War II. Mary North was born into a life of privilege, but when England declares war on Germany, she decides to sign up with the War Office to be put to good use. They assign her a teaching position, where she befriends a black student. It is through this teaching position that she meets Tom Shaw, who is an administrator for a school district. She falls in love with Tom but then she meets Tom’s friend Alistair while he is home on leave from the military for one night. Alistair stirs feelings in Mary that Tom doesn’t necessarily stir. But Mary is pretty sure that Tom is the one so she ignores her feelings for Alistair.
As we all know, war tends to bring many casualties and these young people’s story is no different. Mary and her friends both face many traumatic events, and Mary even has a sad morphine situation for a while. There were a lot of different story lines merging in this book, including the treatment of colored people in England during this time period and drug addiction and the effects of war. There was a lot going on and all of the story lines were really interesting but it almost felt for me like there was too much going on. I couldn’t really connect with the characters personally and it was just hard for me to get into. The description of Alistair’s experience during war time seemed very real and I thought that was one of the most interesting pieces of the book.

The bottom line: I found this book a little wordy but the story line was interesting. The book just wasn’t really for me, but it would definitely appeal to people who like historical fiction centered around World War II.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

2May2016

2016 Book #40 – The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Fiction, Historical fiction, Online Book Clubs by rebeccabook17

Title: The Fair Fight
Author: Anna Freeman
Date finished: 5/1/16
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Publication Date: April 14, 2015
Pages in book: 469
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: BookBrowse NOTE:I received this book for free from BookBrowse in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Moving from a filthy brothel to a fine manor house, from the world of street fighters to the world of champions, The Fair Fight is a vivid, propulsive historical novel announcing the arrival of a dynamic new talent.
Born in a brothel, Ruth doesn’t expect much for herself beyond abuse. While her sister’s beauty affords a certain degree of comfort, Ruth’s harsh looks set her on a path of drudgery. That is until she meets pugilist patron George Dryer and discovers her true calling—fighting bare knuckles in the prize rings of Bristol.
Manor-born Charlotte has a different cross to bear. Scarred by smallpox, stifled by her social and romantic options, and trapped in twisted power games with her wastrel brother, she is desperate for an escape.
After a disastrous, life-changing fight sidelines Ruth, the two women meet, and it alters the perspectives of both of them. When Charlotte presents Ruth with an extraordinary proposition, Ruth pushes dainty Charlotte to enter the ring herself and learn the power of her own strength.
A gripping, page-turning story about people struggling to transcend the circumstances into which they were born and fighting for their own places in society, The Fair Fight is a raucous, intoxicating tale of courage, reinvention, and fighting one’s way to the top.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. I received this book from Book Browse in order to participate in an online book discussion on the book. This book is about a number of people, whose lives all end up being connected in sometimes unusual ways. Ruth is the daughter of a madam, and she lives at the brothel with her husband Tom and her sister, Dora, who is the mistress of Granville Dryer, whose friends Perry Sinclair and George Bowden have a intimate relationship, and Perry’s sister Charlotte marries Granville and later becomes friends with Ruth, her husband’s mistress’s sister. The strings of relationships get a little convoluted but I liked that the book started out separate and then the story lines all seemed to merge toward the middle of the book.
This book also takes an interesting look at how females were treated in the 18th century. At one point the doctor says to Charlotte something about her sex having weak temperaments and that one line alone took me back a step because it was so rude and sexist. Readers can really see how poorly women were treated in the 18th century, though many of the injustices Ruth suffered I think were due to ethical/moral injustices related to the person’s character that she’s dealing with rather than the time period she lived in. Mr. Dryer, for example, did many injustices to Ruth and while they may have been influenced by the time period he lived in, it mostly had to do with who he was as a person.
Overall this wasn’t my favorite book. I had a little trouble staying interested in the story while I was reading it, though I enjoyed the story line when it did hold my attention. Also there were parts of the book that I didn’t want to put the book down and the story line was very thought-provoking and I think will make a great book for the book discussion group. The relationship between George and Perry was one that really caught my attention because of how abusive and awful it was. Perry was really kind of messed up in the head and kept threatening to commit suicide if George left him, which would eventually guilt him into staying. There were many thought-provoking situations and relationships, all of which make for a great book club read. While this wasn’t one of my personal favorite reads, I would still recommend it, especially for book clubs.
The bottom line: I didn’t particularly find this one riveting but a lot of other people have. This turned out to be a slow read for me but I still think this would be a great book club pick since its very thought-provoking.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

5Apr2016

2016 Book #30 – The Winemakers by Jan Moran

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, Historical fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: The Winemakers: A Novel of Wine and Secrets
Author: Jan Moran
Date finished: 4/5/16
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Pages in book: 369
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE:I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

1956: When Caterina Rosetta inherits a cottage in the countryside of Italy from a grandmother she’s never known, she discovers a long-buried family secret — a secret so devastating, it threatens the future of everything her mother has worked for. Many years before, her mother’s hard-won dreams of staking her family’s claim in the vineyards of California came to fruition; but as an old murder comes to light, and Caterina uncovers a tragic secret that may destroy the man she loves, she realizes her happiness will depend on revealing the truth of her mother’s buried past.From author Jan Moran comes The Winemakers, a sweeping, romantic novel that will hold you in its grasp until the last delicious sip.

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of the Rosetta family: Caterina, her mother Ava, and her new daughter Marisa. This book reminded me a lot of Kristen Harnisch’s The Vintner’s Daughter, which I LOVED. For anyone who likes this book you should also read hers, or vice versa. The family owns a winery in Napa, California and has well respected wines that rival those in Europe. The book mostly takes place in 1956, though there are some flashbacks to 1928 and 1929 when Ava came to America. One of the things that particularly struck me about this book was the emphasis on lack of women’s rights during both of those time periods. Caterina has a baby out of wedlock and many times is told directly to her face that she’s a whore and should be ashamed of herself. Which I think is both sad that someone would speak to her that way and also just odd considering how far we’ve come away from that in today’s day and age. I would have to say it is definitely not uncommon to know several people who were either unwed when they had a child or are still unwed with a child. Society has been almost forced to accept this as a norm, so it was just interesting to see how unaccepted it was in a different time period.
Anyways, there were multiple things going on in this book. There was the budding but tragic romance between Caterina and Marisa’s father. There was the family drama that caused Ava to come to America all those years ago, which resurfaces when Caterina’s grandmother dies and leaves her a house in Italy in her will. There was the drama between Ava and Caterina over Marisa. And finally there was the struggle to save the winery (and their home) after disaster strikes. All in all there were multiple plot points all intertwined, which made for a very exciting read. I honestly couldn’t put this one down, I technically started it Sunday night late (around 10:30pm) and then couldn’t stop reading it on Monday and ended up finishing it at 12:30 am Monday morning.
Overall I really enjoyed this book a lot. The conversations were slightly stilted at times and somewhat awkward at others but it didn’t effect my enjoyment of the book. Also I thought the ending came up a bit quick and honestly I thought it was a little odd. I’m glad it had a (**spoiler**) happy ending but it just took me back a little bit that the challenge the couple had to overcome at the end was so.. different from other books I’ve read. Things I enjoyed about the book though included the description of the scenery in Italy, which was excellent, and the narratives about the wine-making process were informative and interesting. Great book and a great read, I think this one is going to be a popular one for 2016 summer.

The bottom line: Really really liked this book! I couldn’t put it down, the story line was riveting. Conversations seemed a tad stilted to me but other than that it was just a great book! I would definitely recommend!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

31Mar2016

2016 Book #27 – Good on Paper by Rachel Cantor

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Fiction, Online Book Clubs by rebeccabook17

Title: Good on Paper
Author: Rachel Cantor
Date finished: 3/30/16
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Melville House
Publication Date: January 26, 2016
Pages in book: 295
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: I won it! On Reading with Robin’s Facebook page

Blurb from the cover:

Is a new life possible? Because Shira Greene’s life hasn’t quite turned out as planned. She’s a single mom living with her daughter and her gay friend, Ahmad. Her PhD on Dante’s Vita Nuova hasn’t gotten her a job, and her career as a translator hasn’t exactly taken off either.
But then she gets a call from a Nobel Prize-winning Italian poet who insists she’s the only one who can translate his newest book.
Stunned, Shira realizes that—just like that— her life can change. She sees a new beginning beckoning: academic glory, demand for her translations, and even love (her good luck has made her feel more open to the entreaties of a neighborhood indie bookstore owner).
There’s only one problem: It all hinges on the translation, and as Shira starts working on the exquisitely intricate passages of the poet’s book, she realizes that it may in fact be, well … impossible to translate.
A deft, funny, and big-hearted novel about second chances, Good on Paper is a grand novel of family, friendship, and possibility.

My rating: 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I won this book on the Reading with Robin Facebook page in a contest. This book is actually going to be discussed with the author on her Facebook page tonight at 8pm so be sure to check that out if you’ve read the book! And here is a listing of future books selected for the page’s book club in case you’re interested in participating in any of those. Anyways, so this book tells the story of Shira Greene, who lives in Manhattan with her daughter, Andrea (Andi), and her best friend Ahmad, who has been helping Shira raise Andi since birth. Shira is offered the chance to translate for Nobel Prize-winning Romei, much to her surprise. She accepts even though this action alone forces her out of the comfort zone in which she’s been living for years, never really having to strive to any potential heights or success.
After she gets engrossed in the story though, she begins to realize things she didn’t know about herself, her daughter and her odd little family she’s formed. And Romei isn’t exactly what she expects. Many pieces of his work are hitting a little too close to home, reminding her of things that she’s written in the past herself. To help her figure out what Romei’s all about, she enlists the help of Benny, a bookstore owner/Rabbi across the street. In the end though, this work of Romei’s ends up being more for Shira than she realizes.
Overall I honestly loved this book. The author did an amazing job of crafting the words just so, it felt almost like I was reading a 300 page poem because it was crafted so wonderfully. While I really enjoyed the book, I do have to admit that I had some trouble connecting with Shira’s character. She basically drops out of grad school in her late twenties (I think I’m remembering the age correctly) over a guy and lets her life basically fall apart after she finds out that he hasn’t been honest with her. That to me was completely baffling. There were a couple other things that didn’t sit right with me about Shira’s character but it definitely did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. Just the opposite, Shira was one of my favorite (and least I guess) parts of the book. The way she discussed literature was profound and moving and being able to insert myself in those conversations throughout the book was one of the most interesting aspects of the story. Overall this book had a sweet ending but what really captured me about this book was the character’s flaws and also the intense psycho-analytical discussions on literature. This was a great read for anyone who loves reading!

The bottom line: This book was just wonderfully well done. It was magical to read, the author honestly did an amazing job of stringing words together to make the text almost lyrical. I loved the in depth discussions included in the conversations between characters. Really just a lovely book to read, I would most definitely recommend.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

21Mar2016

2016 Book #24 – Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Fiction, For the love of books, Terryville - Fiction Lovers by rebeccabook17

Title: Little Bee
Author: Chris Cleave
Date finished: 3/20/16
Genre: Fiction, literary ficiton
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: Reprint edition 2008
Pages in book: 266
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Purchased from Book Outlet.com

Blurb from the cover:

We don’t want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don’t want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn’t. And it’s what happens afterward that is most important. Once you have read it, you’ll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I read this book for the Terryville Library’s Fiction Lover’s Book Discussion group discussion for this month (March). I have to say I agree with many of the other reviews I read on Amazon that mentioned the blurb from the cover, its dead wrong. This book was not what I would call a funny book. There may have been a few comical jibes here and there but overall this book I would describe as powerful, sad, moving, heart-wrenching. There are a lot of things you can use to describe this book and none of them are really funny. That being said, its hard for me to say I enjoyed this book. I thought it was a powerful story and I’m glad that I read it but this isn’t the kind of book that brings enjoyment to the reader. There are a lot of dark events that the characters in this book have to deal with, and it is a hard thing indeed for the reader to experience as well.

The bottom line: I thought that this was a moving story though it was quite sad. In the US many of us are sheltered from the horrors that people face in other countries, and it is sad to read about what some of those women had to endure. I think this was a powerful story though it might be tough for some to read, I would recommend it.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

16Mar2016

2016 Book #22 – Just Fall by Nina Sadowsky

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, Thriller by rebeccabook17

Title: Just Fall
Author: Nina Sadowsky
Date finished: 3/15/16
Genre: Fiction, thriller/suspense
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: March 22, 2016
Pages in book: 304
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

THEN
Ellie Larrabee’s life is perfect. She’s thriving at work, living in a fabulous apartment, and engaged to the man of her dreams. To all appearances, Ellie and Rob Beauman are a golden couple—blessed with good looks, success, and romantic chemistry that’s off the charts. Surely their future together promises nothing but happiness.
But on what should be the most wonderful day of her life, moments after saying “I do,” a shocking secret threatens to shatter Ellie’s happily-ever-after. She learns that the man she just married and loves with all her heart hides a dark past beneath his charismatic exterior. And the more harrowing truth she uncovers, the deeper Ellie is swept into a vortex of betrayal and uncertainty from which she may never escape.

NOW
On the island paradise of St. Lucia, Ellie isn’t basking in honeymoon splendor—she’s grappling with the chilling realities of her violently derailed life: Rob has blood on his hands and some very dangerous people on his trail, and only Ellie stands between him and the lethal destiny he’s facing. Rob never dreamed that Ellie would be dragged into the deadly world he’s trapped in—or used as a pawn against him. And Ellie could never have imagined how far she’d be forced to go to save the man she loves.

My rating: 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book is about a woman named Ellie who discovers an awful secret about her husband (Rob) minutes after the ceremony ends. While she is still in shock, a series of events occur that lead to Ellie taking some extreme measures in order to ensure her husband’s safety. The book alternates between the Then and Now of Ellie’s story, showing us glimpses of her relationship with Rob as it develops and also glimpses into both her past as well as Rob’s before they met. In the wrong hands this writing style can leave the reader completely lost and confused but Sadowsky does a fantastic job of keeping the reader on the right path and leaves subtle clues as to where we are in the timeline without having to put exact dates. I thought it was splendidly done and really increased the tension of the story.
Overall I very much enjoyed this book, the plot line was interested and the story definitely keeps the reader on their toes since it switches between the past and what is happening now. I thought that the book presented an interesting concept, what are we willing to do in order to help those that we love? Ellie and Rob both have dark pasts, events in their lives that changed them. Even though they didn’t discuss those events before they were married, they somehow knew that the other person understood their pain and emptiness. I really liked Ellie’s character, though she did some pretty screwed up stuff in order to protect Rob, I think that she was a really complex character and was just trying to do what was best for her family. There is a lot of grey area in life, decisions that aren’t necessarily good or bad but are the right decision for you to make. I thought the author did a great job of making Ellie’s decisions seem abhorrent and understandable all at the same time. I also really liked how the author was able to intertwine multiple characters and story lines all into a cohesive and (honestly) thrilling story. This was a great read, I can’t wait to see more by this author in the future.

The bottom line: Great book, the plot twists definitely kept me on my toes. Couldn’t put this one down, I would definitely recommend!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

14Mar2016

2016 Book #21 – A Sudden Crush by Camilla Isley

Posted in 2016, Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Fiction, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2016 checklist, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: A Sudden Crush
Author: Camilla Isley
Date finished: 3/14/16 (just after midnight)
Genre: Fiction, contemporary romance
Publisher: Pink Bloom Press
Publication Date: February 4, 2016
Pages in book: 255
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: The Reading Room NOTE: I received this book for free from The Reading Room in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Joanna Price is a city girl with the perfect life. She loves her job as a book editor, she just married Liam, high profile bestselling author and the man of her dreams, and she’s headed to the Caribbean to enjoy two weeks of paradise for her luxurious honeymoon.
Connor Duffield is a gruff, grumpy rancher from the Midwest. He is a country boy who has a no-nonsense approach to life, more scars than he’d like to admit, and he hates city girls.
So it’s just a misfortune they have to sit next to each other for a six hour plane ride. Even more so when their flight is caught in the perfect storm and Joanna wakes up stranded on a desert island with Connor, the very man she hoped she would never have to see again.
Why are they alone on this forsaken island? What happened to Joanna’s husband?
When her dream honeymoon turns into a hilarious tropical nightmare, Joanna’s first thought is survival. However, she and Connor will quickly discover just how boring paradise can be. As the days turn to weeks, and then months, this mismatched pair will have to learn how to coexist and how to resist the sparkles of an attraction they weren’t prepared to feel.
When they are finally rescued will Joanna’s marriage be saved as well, or will the life she knew and loved be in ruins?

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. Also, this book will count towards my “PopSugar 2016 Checklist” reading challenge, marking off the “a book you can finish in a day” square since I started it yesterday afternoon and finished just after midnight. This book is about Joanna Price, who while flying to her honeymoon destination is involved in some freak plan accident and ends up on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean with one of the other plane passengers, who unfortunately was not her husband but a farmer from Illinois named Connor. Somehow Connor and Joanna manage to survive the jungle covered island for months before (**spoiler alert**) they are rescued. But after Joanna returns to her life at home, she finds out that her life isn’t exactly in the same rosy status as it was when she disappeared. From there she has to learn to find the strength to move on and forge a new life for herself.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick and easy read and I really liked the plot line. When I first read the book synopsis I thought it was going to be a little more like one of my favorite romance novels, Nerd In Shining Armor, and while the story line was very different, they both had that whole plane crash on a deserted island thing which I enjoyed. The emotions in this book too are really powerful and really draw the reader in. I was really rooting for Joanna when she was encountering her struggles head on and I was cheering her on to forge through whatever crap life was dealing her. I think that was one of the things that I especially liked about this book was that the romance for Joanna came after she already had her stuff figured out. She became a success entirely on her own and was really just living her dream and being her own person. Not to go too deep into feminism here but I thought that was a really important thing for women readers, and especially any younger women reading this, to see that a woman can be successful and happy without a man, that the love and companionship of finding that special person is a bonus but does not rule over your whole life. Anyways, I liked the book a lot. And with all the descriptions of the steamy weather on the island I think this would be a great book to read on the beach while lying in the sun. Make sure to check this one out!

The bottom line: This was an easy read for me and was a sweet story. Great beach read, I would definitely recommend!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

13Mar2016

2016 Book #20 – The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, Thriller by rebeccabook17

Title: The Passenger
Author: Lisa Lutz
Date finished: 3/13/16
Genre: Fiction, thriller
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: March 1, 2016
Pages in book: 320
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it…
Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time.
She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born.
It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past?
With heart-stopping escapes and devious deceptions, The Passenger is an amazing psychological thriller about defining yourself while you pursue your path to survival. One thing is certain: the ride will leave you breathless.

My rating: 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book is about a woman who runs through many different names through the story; we first meet her right after she has discovered her husband dead at the bottom of the stairs at her house. After this we learn that she has been on the run since long before that, and because of that she didn’t want the police looking too far into her background after her husband dies, so she runs again. At this time the woman’s name is Tanya. She runs to Austin, Texas where she makes a new friend, Blue. From there “Tanya” makes a series of wrong (and a few right) turns that will lead her down a dark path, away from the person she always thought she was underneath the fake names and hair dye.
Overall I thought this was a fantastic book. “Tanya” was an extremely flawed person but the reader still comes to like her somehow. And the twists and turns in this plot were outstanding, every time I thought we were settled for awhile there was another one thrown in there. It definitely kept me on my toes and I did not want to put the book down. “Tanya” also comes across a number of people in this story, most with sinister motives, but she does meet a few truly good people that only want to help her. I thought that was interesting that with so much harshness and struggle to survive in her world that “Tanya” was able to find happiness at certain moments in her life on the run. This was a thrilling, fast-paced, riveting novel with a great story line that will keep you hooked right through to the end. Everyone should pick up a copy of this one.

The bottom line: VERY good book! I didn’t want to put it down, this is a great thriller! I would definitely recommend.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

26Feb2016

2016 Book #15 – In Real Life by Jessica Love

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Bookish Bingo Holiday 2015, Reading Challenges, Young Adult by rebeccabook17

Title: In Real Life
Author: Jessica Love
Date finished: 2/24/16
Genre: Fiction, thriller/suspense
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: March 1, 2016
Pages in book: 224
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: The Reading Room NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Hannah Cho and Nick Cooper have been best friends since 8th grade. They talk for hours on the phone, regularly shower each other with presents, and know everything there is to know about one another.
There’s just one problem: Hannah and Nick have never actually met.
Hannah has spent her entire life doing what she’s supposed to, but when her senior year spring break plans get ruined by a rule-breaker, she decides to break a rule or two herself. She impulsively decides to road trip to Las Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick and finally declare her more-than-friend feelings for him.
Hannah’s surprise romantic gesture backfires when she gets to Vegas and finds out that Nick has been keeping some major secrets. Hannah knows the real Nick can’t be that different from the online Nick she knows and loves, but now she only has night in Sin City to figure out what her feelings for Nick really are, all while discovering how life can change when you break the rules every now and then.

My rating: 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book will count towards my “Holiday 2015 Bookish Bingo” reading challenge, marking off the “Blue Cover” square, since it has a blue cover. This book is about a girl named Hannah who decides to start breaking some of her rules. All her life she’s been the good girl and the obedient one. But now she is a senior in high school, she’s on spring break, and she decides that its high time she went to Las Vegas (only 4 hours away from her). Not to gamble but to meet the boy that she’s been talking to (pretty much non-stop) for the past four years. He’s her best friend and possibly more than her friend and she’s going to surprise him by showing up at one of his band performances.Little does she know that she’s the one who is going to be surprised (gasp).
So Hannah, her sister Grace, and her best friend Lo travel to Las Vegas and spend the night with Hannah’s best friend Nick. Along with him they also spend time with Nick’s brother Alex and friends Oscar and Jordy, as well as Frankie, Nick’s girlfriend (double gasp). What ensues is a wild night out on Las Vegas for a girl (Hannah) who is only used to following the rules. Hannah learns how to let lose and have fun and not just do exactly what she’s supposed to do.
Overall I thought this was a cute story. I connected with Hannah a little bit since I too was a goody two-shoes in high school. I have to be honest though, she and I were very different in the teen angst department and I found that piece of the book somewhat frustrating. I was never one to keep my mouth shut when I liked a boy so my angst was always of the “oh he doesn’t like me that sucks, oh wait look there’s some new shiny thing” while Hannah’s angst is more “oh I love this boy to pieces but I’m going to keep it to myself and be sad that he doesn’t know I like him.” I find that angst to be overly frustrating because how are you ever going to know if he likes you back if you don’t say anything. Other than that though the characters were cute, the story line was funny, and it was a quick read. Perfect read for this summer when you’re looking for something light to read on the beach!

The bottom line: This was a quick, light, and cute read. High on the teen angst scale but other than that it is a cute story about a girl taking chances and falling in love.

Link to author website

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