The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti

Summary from Good Reads:

     After years spent living on the run, Samuel Hawley moves with his teenage daughter, Loo, to Olympus, Massachusetts. There, in his late wife's hometown, Hawley finds work as a fisherman, while Loo struggles to fit in at school and grows curious about her mother's mysterious death. Haunting them both are twelve scars Hawley carries on his body, from twelve bullets in his criminal past; a past that eventually spills over into his daughter's present, until together they must face a reckoning yet to come. This father-daughter epic weaves back and forth through time and across America, from Alaska to the Adirondacks. 

My Thoughts:

     This is a very interesting book.   I couldn’t begin to guess what genre you would put this into or how to describe it.  The writing is very well done and I could picture things perfectly.   I could even smell the brine-y air of the sea and feel the loneliness and desperation of Hawley. 

     I didn’t connect with the characters in an I-can-understand-what-they-are-going-through way but I did like Loo and even Hawley.  I knew something terrible must have happened to Sam in order for him to force himself and Loo to live their lives like they did.  I feel very sorry for Loo having to live this restless life and not really knowing why and seeing how it affected her relationships or lack thereof.

     I am not sure how I feel about the ending and since I don’t like spoilers…just FYI: if you like your endings neat and tidy and all wrapped up, you might not be happy.   3/5 stars

Author’s site: http://hannahtinti.com/

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes

Summary from Good Reads:

In 1916, French artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his wife Sophie to fight at the Front. When her town falls into German hands, his portrait of Sophie stirs the heart of the local Kommandant and causes her to risk everything - her family, reputation and life—in the hope of seeing her true love one last time.

Nearly a century later and Sophie's portrait is given to Liv by her young husband shortly before his sudden death. Its beauty speaks of their short life together, but when the painting's dark and passion-torn history is revealed, Liv discovers that the first spark of love she has felt since she lost him is threatened...

In The Girl You Left Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for the thing they love most—whatever the cost.

My Thoughts:

      The Girl You Left Behind was one of my book club's flight pick options for March and the first time I had a chance to read one of the flight picks.  Since I have only read (and loved!) two other books by JoJo Moyes, I decided to check this one out.  I'm so glad I did!

     

     I initially picked up this book without even reading a synopsis so I had no clue what was going to happen in the story.  At first, it did take me a bit to get into the story but once I did? I did not want to put it down! I will be recommending this book to pretty much all the book readers that I know-it was that good!

     This story was a wonderful combination of every genre that I love; historical fiction, mystery, and romance.  Both Sophie and Live are wonderful, strong women that are fighting for their family and the man that they love.  There were moments of great sadness and fear but also moments of laughter and hope.  5/5 stars

Author’s site: http://www.jojomoyes.com/

Co-Wrecker, an all new sexy, laugh out loud romantic comedy is LIVE!

Co-Wrecker by Meghan Quinn Publication Date: March 23, 2017

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Photographer: Lauren Watson Perry

Synopsis:

What do ice cream and Sadie Montgomery have in common? They're both ice cold, but one taste is never enough.

I wanted to be friends — I would have even settled for her seeing me as anything but a nerd — but there was no getting through. So just like any hard-headed, red-blooded man out there, I made up my mind.

I’d make my coworker fall for me.

I’d like to say it was simple, but like every other epic love story, all it took was one drunken night and a lot of naked courage to get the girl. For a moment, at least.

Love with a coworker is never simple, especially since Sadie’s trying to keep us on the low. Not to mention her persistent ex-boyfriend who won’t leave her alone. But I’ve never been good at giving up, and I don’t plan to start now.

The whole thing is a recipe for a rocky road, but I plan to eat the whole gallon, no matter how bad the brain freeze.

Read Today!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2nmgar2

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/nw47jy

Add to Goodreads: https://goo.gl/PRM1Ux

About the Author:

A BLONDE AT HEART Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if “It’s Raining Men” starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped. Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing… enter her first novel, Caught Looking. Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh and she loves a good boob squeeze!

Connect with Meghan:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/meghanquinnauthor Instagram: authormeghanquinn Website: http://www.authormeghanquinn.com/

Sign Up for Meghan’s Newsletter: http://bit.ly/MQWrapUp

Co-Wrecker, an all new sexy, laugh out loud romantic comedy is coming March 23rd!

Co-Wrecker by Meghan Quinn Publication Date: March 23, 2017

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:

What do ice cream and Sadie Montgomery have in common? They're both ice cold, but one taste is never enough.

I wanted to be friends — I would have even settled for her seeing me as anything but a nerd — but there was no getting through. So just like any hard-headed, red-blooded man out there, I made up my mind.

I’d make my coworker fall for me.

I’d like to say it was simple, but like every other epic love story, all it took was one drunken night and a lot of naked courage to get the girl. For a moment, at least.

Love with a coworker is never simple, especially since Sadie’s trying to keep us on the low. Not to mention her persistent ex-boyfriend who won’t leave her alone. But I’ve never been good at giving up, and I don’t plan to start now.

The whole thing is a recipe for a rocky road, but I plan to eat the whole gallon, no matter how bad the brain freeze.

Preorder Today!

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2nmgar2

Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/nw47jy

iBooks: http://apple.co/2lqstCA

Add to Goodreads: https://goo.gl/PRM1Ux

About the Author:

A BLONDE AT HEART Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if “It’s Raining Men” starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped. Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing… enter her first novel, Caught Looking. Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh and she loves a good boob squeeze!

Connect with Meghan:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/meghanquinnauthor Instagram: authormeghanquinn Website: http://www.authormeghanquinn.com/

Sign Up for Meghan’s Newsletter: http://bit.ly/MQWrapUp

A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

Summary from Amazon:

     To Christina Olson, the entire world was her family’s remote farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine.  Born in the home her family had lived in for generations, and increasingly incapacitated by illness, Christina seemed destined for a small life.  Instead, for more than twenty years, she was host and inspiration for the artist Andrew Wyeth, and became the subject of one of the best known American paintings of the twentieth century.

My Thoughts:

    A Piece of the World was my MMD’s March book club pick. Again, this was not a book I probably would have read on my own which is exactly why I joined the book club-expanding horizons! J

     I had never heard of Andrew Wyeth nor had I ever seen this painting before reading this book but I really like Mr. Wyeth’s works.  The styles of his paintings tend to be a little bleak when you first look at them but they are beautiful. Christina, her brother, and their family farm became the main muse of many of Andrew Wyeth's works. 

     Like the paintings, the story of Christina Olson is also bleak but beautifully told by Ms. Kline.  I don’t know what it was about the story of the Olson family but I was very pulled in and interested in what was to become of Christina.  This was a quiet read that while sad and emotional it was also very compelling.   3/5 stars

Author’s site:  http://christinabakerkline.com/

Artist’s site: http://andrewwyeth.com/

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

Summary from Goodreads:

                There is little violent crime in Venice, a serenely beautiful floating city of mystery and magic, history and decay.  But the evil does occasionally rear its head in the jurisdiction of Guido Brunetti, the suave, urbane vice-commissario of police and genius at detection.  Now all of his admirable abilities must come into play in the deadly affair of Maestro Helmut Wellauer, a world-renowned conductor who died painfully from cyanide poisoning during an intermission at La Fenice.

     But as the investigation unfolds, a chilling picture slowly begins to take shape—a detailed portrait of revenge painted in vivid strokes of hatred and shocking depravity.  And the dilemma for Guido Brunetti will not be finding a murder suspect, but rather narrowing the choices down to just one!

My Thoughts:

     This was my March read for the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading for Fun Challenge; read a book set somewhere you have never been but always wanted to visit. Italy in general intrigues me and not just for the pasta and pizza but that helps! The art and the history and it all just looks so beautiful!

     Guido Brunetti is a very likable character. The Good Reads description mentions he is intelligent and suave…I agree on half of that! He is definitely intelligent but he did not seem suave to me at all. Guido is a very relatable character in that he is very good at his job but on the personal front he is just another human fumbling through marriage and parenthood trying to do his best. 

                The mystery and story are well put together and I never knew for sure “who dunit”.  You will like some of the characters and you will hate some of them.  Some will make you very suspicious and some will make you laugh but you will suspect every single one of them.  I did not see the end coming until Brunetti did and that makes for a great mystery in my opinion. 

                I enjoyed the setting of Venice and not just the descriptions of the buildings. Donna Leon gives you the feeling of the people, the atmosphere, and the way of life in Venice that tourists probably never get on vacation.  This is the first in a series of nearly 20 books!!! I will definitely be continuing on with this series and knowing there are that many just makes me happy. J  4/5 stars

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

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Summary from Amazon:

February 1862.  The Civil War is less than one year old.  The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle.  Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill.  In a matter of days, despite predictions of recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in Georgetown.  "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time.  "God called him home."  Newspapers report the grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy's body.

My Thoughts:

     I was excited about this book. There was big talk about prior to its release and I thought it sounded like a great biographical/historical fiction book about Lincoln.  That is NOT what this is at all!

     I assumed that this would be a story of Abraham Lincolns’ new presidency and how he dealt with the loss of his beloved son.  This book is a very oddly put together story filled with newspaper and books research quotes to set up the events preceding young Willie Lincolns’ death then even more oddly the story of literally hundreds of ghosts stuck in the in-between. 

     I struggled to get past the choppy-ness of the setup of this story and I was only ever able to “deal with it”.  Honestly, I only got about 48% into this book before I finally gave up! I couldn’t even begin to keep all of the characters straight and I was so very disappointed that this story had very little of it actually dedicated to the Lincolns.  This book was most definitely NOT for me but I will give it 1 star simple for the highly unusual writing style.  1/5 stars

Co-Wrecker, an all new sexy, laugh out loud romantic comedy is coming March 23rd!

Co-Wrecker by Meghan Quinn Publication Date: March 23, 2017

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Photographer: Lauren Watson Perry

Synopsis:

What do ice cream and Sadie Montgomery have in common? They're both ice cold, but one taste is never enough.

I wanted to be friends — I would have even settled for her seeing me as anything but a nerd — but there was no getting through. So just like any hard-headed, red-blooded man out there, I made up my mind.

I’d make my coworker fall for me.

I’d like to say it was simple, but like every other epic love story, all it took was one drunken night and a lot of naked courage to get the girl. For a moment, at least.

Love with a coworker is never simple, especially since Sadie’s trying to keep us on the low. Not to mention her persistent ex-boyfriend who won’t leave her alone. But I’ve never been good at giving up, and I don’t plan to start now.

The whole thing is a recipe for a rocky road, but I plan to eat the whole gallon, no matter how bad the brain freeze.

Preorder Exclusively on iBooks:

http://apple.co/2lqstCA

Add to Goodreads: https://goo.gl/PRM1Ux

About the Author:

A BLONDE AT HEART Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if “It’s Raining Men” starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped. Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing… enter her first novel, Caught Looking. Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh and she loves a good boob squeeze!

Connect with Meghan:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/meghanquinnauthor Instagram: authormeghanquinn Website: http://www.authormeghanquinn.com/

Sign Up for Meghan’s Newsletter: http://bit.ly/MQWrapUp

February Reads

 source

     Ah, February. The shortest month (less reading time) and usually the one with the worst weather but not this one! We had some beautiful, spring-like weather here for most of the month and comparatively, I read more books than I have in past months. There were also some really great reads.  Woo hoo!

Here's the scoop:

Command Me by Geneva Lee: this was a re-read for me.

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter: Great book! See my full review here.

Pucked Off by Helena Hunting: I just love HH's writing! Full review is here.

I See You by Clare Mackintosh: a great thriller! Head here for the full review.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll: This was a reading challenge/lessen my TBR pile book...it was disappointing. My review is here.

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel: LOVE.  Full review here.