This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

Summary from Amazon:

This is how a family keeps a secret…and how that secret ends up keeping them.

This is how a family lives happily ever after…until happily ever after becomes complicated.

This is how children change…and then change the world.

This is Claude.  He’s five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches.  He also loves wearing a dress, and dreams of being a princess.

When he grows up, Clause says, he wants to be a girl.

Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be.  They’re just not sure they’re ready to share that with the world.  Soon the entire family is keeping Claude’s secret.  Until one day it explodes.

 My Thoughts: 

     To be honest, I would have never picked up this book to read by myself.  If it weren’t for this being the ModernMrs. Darcy Book Club pick for February, I would have left this one alone.  Not because I refuse to learn about this topic but because it seems like a hard book to read, emotionally hard. 

     As a parent you want your child to be happy, to just be themselves.  Society always says “be original, be yourself” but we all know that most of the time that’s only okay if you are just like everyone else in your “originality”.  You are told to be unique but definitely not “different”.  What happens when your child’s originality and true self is something most wouldn’t understand? What do you do as a parent?

      As a mother I read this book with tears at the ready because I cannot imagine how I would deal with this situation.  It would be hard to decide how to handle everything that Rosie and Penn must handle in order to give Claude the life he deserves.  There were also many, many moments of laughter and relatable Parent Angst and Parent Guilt.  Ms. Frankel has a wonderful voice that gives you an unconventional story that is still something every parent can understand.  She will also challenge you to re-think your preconceived notions of normal.  I guarantee you will be thinking about Claude’s story long after you put the book down.  

4.5/5 stars

Author's site: http://www.lauriefrankel.net/

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Summary from Amazon:

HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE.

As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.

But Ani has a secret.

There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.

With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that's bigger than it first appears.

The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

My Thoughts:

     This was my February book club challenge selection.  For the MMD Reading for Fun Challenge this month we were to pick a book with a reputation for being un-put-downable AND this book was in my rather large To-Be-Read Pile so…seemed like a good idea to not only knock one off the pile and also check off my monthly challenge book!

     Unfortunately, there were several times during this book that I very much wanted to put it down and abandon it completely but I didn’t.  Luckiest Girl Alive was touted as Ani, the narrator, having this big secret so I kept reading and waiting for it…she had one but it wasn’t worth waiting for.  This book, to me, had no real point to it and the “secret” wasn’t really a secret. 

     Ani has every right to be the messed up and dark person she is but she was completely unlikable to me and even though I wanted to root for her once I found out what happened to her, I just couldn’t. She does have a turning point in the book but it felt rushed and therefore, had little meaning and left me feeling cheated.  I don’t know why this book was deemed un-put-downable but I have to say that I totally disagree. 

     I hate to post a totally negative review but since this is part of my reading challenge and I am trying to hold myself accountable for actually finishing it this year….

2/5 stars

I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Summary from Amazon:

     Every morning and evening, Zoe Walker takes the same route to the train station, waits at a certain place on the platform, finds her favorite spot in the car, never suspecting that someone is watching her...

It all starts with a classified ad. During her commute home one night, while glancing through her local paper, Zoe sees her own face staring back at her; a grainy photo along with a phone number and a listing for a website called FindTheOne.com.

Other women begin appearing in the same ad, a different one every day, and Zoe realizes they’ve become the victims of increasingly violent crimes—including murder. With the help of a determined cop, she uncovers the ad’s twisted purpose...A discovery that turns her paranoia into full-blown panic. Zoe is sure that someone close to her has set her up as the next target.

And now that man on the train—the one smiling at Zoe from across the car—could be more than just a friendly stranger. He could be someone who has deliberately chosen her and is ready to make his next move…

 

My Thoughts:

     Zoe lives an ordinary, everyday life until the day she sees a dating hotline advertisement in the paper while riding the train home from work.  Not normally something she would peruse in the paper but when you see your own face staring back at you from one of the ads you sit up and pay attention!  Convinced by herself and her family that it is just someone with a great likeness to her, Zoe moves on and tries to forget about the weird occurrence.  A few days later she sees something that changes her mind and convinces her it wasn't a coincidence.

     Clare Mackintosh has giving us a thriller with believable, relatable characters and a good case of the heebie-jeebies!  A single mom working and paying bills suddenly pulled into a city-wide mystery and the one and only policewoman who believes she has a right to be paranoid is a great story.  There were so many times I thought I knew who was behind all the craziness but then the next chapter would make me rethink everything!

     I See You is definitely a page turner!  This book had me stopping only long enough to make sure my social media securities were locked tight! 

4.5/5

 

Author's site:  https://claremackintosh.com/

 

Pucked Off by Helena Hunting

Summary:

I’m NHL defenseman Lance Romero, AKA Lance “Romance."

I’m notorious for parties and excess. I have the most penalty minutes in the league. I get into the most fights. I take the most hits. I’m a player on and off the ice. I’m the one women with no inhibitions want.

Not because I like the notoriety, but because I don’t know how to be any other way.

I have secrets. Ones I shared with the wrong person, and she used them against me. Sometimes she still does. I should cut ties. But she makes it difficult, because she’s the kind of bad I deserve.

At least that’s what I believed until someone from my past gets caught up in my present. She’s all the good things in this world. She lights up my dark.

I shouldn’t want her.

But I do. 

I should leave her alone.

But I won’t. 

My Thoughts:

     If you have been reading my little ole blog for long you know I am a big fan of Ms. Hunting.  Her books aren’t just smooshy, cheesy love stories that make your teeth hurt because they are so saccharine sweet.  Ms. Hunting’s characters are real, damaged and funny!  I went into this one with a little trepidation though because I didn’t care for Lance “Romance” Romero or Tash when they appeared in the previous books.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through a whole book dealing with them but I should never have doubted Helena! Again, she has given us a love story with real people that have issues and insecurities but that you cannot help but love.  I don’t know how she makes me care so much about fictional people! 

     I am now a total Lance convert! He is scared and damaged but also very sweet and I think Poppy was a great female character.  Poppy was amazing for standing up for herself and knowing that caring for someone doesn’t mean it will always be perfect or that you are even meant to be  together.  I still hate Tash because…well, read the book.  You won’t like her either.  This was, yet again, another amazing story of learning to deal with what life throws at you and learning to forgive yourself and to love.  4/5 stars

PUCKED OFF 

Helena Hunting 

Publication Date: February 21st 

Genre: Contemporary Romance 

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Celebrate #TeaserTuesday with Helena Hunting, PUCKED OFF is only ONE week away!!!

PreOrder Today!

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*A Standalone novel*

I’m NHL defenseman Lance Romero, AKA Lance “Romance."

I’m notorious for parties and excess. I have the most penalty minutes in the league. I get into the most fights. I take the most hits. I’m a player on and off the ice. I’m the one women with no inhibitions want.

Not because I like the notoriety, but because I don’t know how to be any other way.

I have secrets. Ones I shared with the wrong person, and she used them against me. Sometimes she still does. I should cut ties. But she makes it difficult, because she’s the kind of bad I deserve.

At least that’s what I believed until someone from my past gets caught up in my present. She’s all the good things in this world. She lights up my dark.

I shouldn’t want her.

But I do. 

I should leave her alone.

But I won’t

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

Summary from Good Reads:

     An extraordinary, propulsive novel based on the true story of a family of Polish Jews who are separated at the start of the Second World War, determined to survive and to reunite 

      It is the spring of 1939 and three generations of the Kurc family are doing their best to live normal lives, even as the shadow of war grows closer. The talk around the family Seder table is of new babies and budding romance, not of the increasing hardships threatening Jews in their hometown of Radom, Poland. But soon the horrors overtaking Europe will become inescapable and the Kurcs will be flung to the far corners of the world, each desperately trying to navigate his or her own path to safety. 

My Thoughts:

     This is the story of the Kurc family and how despite being separated managed to survive World War II as Polish Jews.  Siblings, spouses and parents are all separated at various times, some merely by city blocks but others by continents.  Some of the Kurc siblings are simply in hiding but some are captured and sent away to horrible places to work and barely manage to survive.

     I will admit that at first I had a hard time keeping all of the characters straight-there are a lot of them! The alternating POV chapters made it a little harder but once I settled into the story the characters became real people.  The characters are all amazing and this is a truly great story-so much so that I cannot wait to read it again! The things that this family must go through just to survive are unthinkable. 

     This isn’t just a story of war but that of survival and love that is based on the real life of Georgia Hunter’s grandfather and his family.  When I read this in the author’s notes at the end, the story became just that much more meaningful to me.   This is family doing everything they can to be together again and to ensure that they all make it through one of the worst tragedies in world history.

4.5/5 stars

To see more info about the family, check out the author's site:

 https://weweretheluckyones.com/author/georgiahunter/

Pucked Off, an all-new STANDALONE from Helena Hunting is coming February 21st!

Pucked Off by Helena Hunting Publication Date: February 21^st, 2017 Genre: Contemporary Romance

***A Standalone novel in The Pucked Series***

I’m NHL defenseman Lance Romero, AKA Lance “Romance."

I’m notorious for parties and excess. I have the most penalty minutes in the league. I get into the most fights. I take the most hits. I’m a player on and off the ice. I’m the one women with no inhibitions want.

Not because I like the notoriety, but because I don’t know how to be any other way.

I have secrets. Ones I shared with the wrong person, and she used them against me. Sometimes she still does. I should cut ties. But she makes it difficult, because she’s the kind of bad I deserve.

At least that’s what I believed until someone from my past gets caught up in my present. She’s all the good things in this world. She lights up my dark.

I shouldn’t want her.

But I do.

I should leave her alone.

But I won’t.

Excerpt:

I’ve agreed to go out with Lance. On a date. Two actually. I don’t even know what to think. I grab my purse and slip into my jacket. As fall settles in and the temperature drops, layers are becoming necessary. When I return, Lance is standing at the desk, checking his phone. He’s smiling. “Ready to go,” I say. He hits a couple of buttons, pockets his phone, and turns that grin on me. “Cool.” I lock up the clinic, and Lance walks me across the lot. This time he doesn’t leave the usual space between us, and the back of his hand grazes my hip. I’m nervous when we reach my car. His Hummer is parked right behind my Mini this time. I adjust the strap of my purse and look up at him. Strangely, he looks as nervous as me. He scans my face and takes a small step closer. I can see his hand lifting in my peripheral vision. My hair is in a ponytail, which is sitting on my shoulder. He fingers the end of it. “Why do I always want to pull this?” I don’t have the opportunity to answer, because he drops his head and his lips skim my cheek. “I want to kiss you.” “You just did,” I whisper. “I want do it again, but here.” His thumb touches my bottom lip. “Oh.” He’s so close. His lips almost touching mine as he asks, “Can I do that?” “Yes, please.” His lids grow heavy, and he kisses the corner of my mouth. Lance strokes my cheek and rests his palm on the side of my neck. The other hand skims the length of my arm until he reaches my fingertips. He leans back a little, and for a second I think it’s over before it’s even begun, but he takes my hand in his. Uncurling my fingers, he lifts it and presses my palm against his cheek. A full-body tremor runs through him, and his eyes drift closed. He turns his head toward my palm, and I smooth my thumb along the contour of his bottom lip. A deep sound comes from the back of his throat, making my skin prickle and heat blossom in my belly. When he opens his eyes again, the fire in them matches the heat flooding my entire body. “Can you keep yer hand right here?” “If you want me to, yes.” “I definitely do.” He leans in and brushes his lips over mine again. It’s soft and warm. The next time he takes my bottom lip between his, he releases it slowly, and then does the same with the top one. When his tongue flicks out, I might whimper. Light fingers cup my head, and I tilt it back farther. I part my lips, and his tongue sweeps my mouth. His groan is low, sending a shiver down my spine. He drops the hand that’s keeping mine pressed against his cheek. His arm winds around my waist, and he pulls me in tight against him. I expect the kiss to grow in intensity. It doesn’t, though I can feel the heat building inside me. That feeling I’ve been searching for all these years is finally back.

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About the Author:

NYT and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She's writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.


 

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January Reads

 source

     So the holidays are over-yay! For me December is two birthdays, Christmas and then January hits which gives me New Year's a.k.a. my anniversary and then two more birthdays! Ugh, glad it is all over. On top of all of that there was illness in our house so it has been madness. 
     All of that was leading up to me saying that I only read four books in all of January...four?!?!  Those are my excuses for not getting much done but I did check off my first read for my 2017 MMD Reading Challenge. Go me!


Here are the four measly books I finished:

News of the World by Paullette Jiles: this was the January Modern Mrs. Darcy book club pick.  Not my usual genre but it was a short but good story.  

The Trespasser by Tana French: first of her novels that I have read and I loved it! See the full review here.

The Girl Before by JP Delaney: still not real sure how I feel about this psychological thriller-more thoughts here.

Faithful by Alice Hoffman: new to me author and my reading challenge pick for January. Is it any wonder I picked it solely for the cover? Dark but touching story about overcoming tragedy and living your life. I laughed and cried several times.

The Do-Over, an all-new emotional, second chance STANDALONE romance by Julie A. Richman is now LIVE!!

~ Sometimes, one degree is all that separates you from the one you were meant to be with. ~

Wes Bergman was sex on a stick.

We’d been circling one another our entire lives, mingling at the same clubs... attending the same events…sharing mutual acquaintances…yet we’d never actually met.

Until . . . we both boarded a Windjammer Cruise in the Caribbean. And it was like meeting my long, lost best friend for the first time. I hadn’t ever connected with a guy that way before.

But Wes had a girlfriend. So, when the week was over, he walked off the ship, unknowingly taking a piece of my heart with him.

Now, over a decade later, newly divorced, I’m the proverbial fish out of water. Dating has totally changed. Apps. Swipe left. Swipe right. Catfishing. Men my age want two things: twenty-five-year-olds—like my ex’s new child bride of a wife—or just a quick hook-up.

After a string of bad dates, I finally did something I never thought I’d do. I had a hot one-night stand with a really handsome guy I met online who didn’t even know my real name.

Turned out Mr. Fling is a big shot for my company’s newest client. And just my

luck, that client’s CEO is none other than . . . Wes Bergman.

Now I’m separated by one degree again from the man who stole my heart.

And Mr. Fling could destroy my chance of what I want most –

A Do-Over with Wes.

Excerpt:

His hand slowly stroking up and down the outside of my thigh is what roused me from my dream state. It was so soft and tender that I was getting more and more turned on with every movement. With my eyes still closed, I enjoyed the sensation. It wasn’t until his lips started brushing my shoulder, that I was unable to stifle a moan, revealing that I was awake. “Good morning,” his whisper was hoarse. “Mmm, good morning.” I stretched my body against his and turned my head to see his face hovering over mine, before our lips met. “Sleep good?” “Surprisingly, I did. I was so exhausted. Sorry for passing out on you last night,” I apologized. “I think we both passed out the moment our heads hit the pillows.” Wes’ hand had migrated from my thigh to my stomach, where he softly drew circles with his fingertips. Rolling over to face him, I pushed my hair out of the way, silently praying my humidity enhanced curls didn’t make me look like a deranged housewife, scaring the erection right out of the man. Slinging a leg over his thigh, I instantly got my answer. The crazy morning coif was not a cock killer. Thank God! “You’re a morning person, I see.” Hiding my smile was not a possibility. “Yeah, I am,” Wes laughed, moving closer to me, his eyes filled with the unmistakable desire to become lovers, something I’d dreamed about on the deck of a windjammer long ago. “You can wake me up like this anytime.” I needed to let him know it was okay. He’d said he’d take it as slow as I wanted it and what I wanted right now was a slow rhythm of him plowing into me. Hard. “Are you hard to wake up?” He was pressed up against me. “I think you’ll figure out the secrets to rousing me.” “You’ve already figured out the secrets to arousing me.” His voice still had that sexy edge of morning roughness to it, making me want to skip all foreplay and have him inside me. “I’ll bet you have a few more secrets I can discover,” I said against his lips, as I shifted the leg I had slung over him, pressing my heat and wetness against his already throbbing cock. Wes groaned and I could feel his smile against my lips. “You know you’re going to make it impossible to make slow, sweet love to you.” “Good, because I don’t want it slow and sweet.” Wes flipped me onto my back, “I can easily accommodate your wishes. Are you on anything or do I need to…” “We’re good,” I assured him. “Yes, we are.” He kissed my neck, then swiftly pulled my tank top over my head tossing it to the floor. “We’re going to be really good together. Of that, I have no doubt.” And I knew he was right. Being with this man had been so perfect from the night we met. We meshed with ease and the result was pure joy. The warmth in his eyes and smile made my breath catch, and in that moment, I was flooded with overwhelming emotion at how much I wanted him. How much I’d always wanted him. It was more than lust, beyond the heat of the moment. Wes Bergman was the man I had always wanted, from the night we met. That was clear to me now. “I vote we skip the foreplay.” I wriggled out of my underwear. “You’re on.” His smile told me he was taking on the challenge. “You’re in,” I gasped, my breath catching in my throat, surprised at the swiftness with which he filled my request.

Read Today!

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About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling author Julie A. Richman is a native New Yorker living deep in the heart of Texas. A creative writing major in college, reading and writing fiction has always been a passion. Julie began her corporate career in publishing in NYC and writing played a major role throughout her career as she created and wrote marketing, advertising, direct mail and fundraising materials for Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations. She is an award winning nature photographer plagued with insatiable wanderlust. Julie and her husband have one son and a white German Shepherd named Juneau.

Connect with Julie:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJulieARichman

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HenrysHangover/?fref=nf Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/ore7g3u Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JulieARichman Website: http://juliearichman.com/ Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/znsvx5u Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/RYac1