Thursday, July 30, 2009

Summer House



FROM AMAZON:After years of wandering from whim to whim, thirty-year-old Charlotte Wheelwright seems to have at last found her niche. The free spirit enjoys running an organic gardening business on the island of Nantucket, thanks in large part to her spry grandmother Nona, who donated a portion of land on the family’s seaside compound to get Charlotte started. Though Charlotte’s skill with plants is bringing her success, cultivating something deeper with people—particularly her handsome neighbor Coop—might be more of a challenge.
Nona’s generosity to Charlotte, secretly her favorite grandchild, doesn’t sit well with the rest of the Wheelwright clan, however, as they worry that Charlotte may be positioning herself to inherit the entire estate. With summer upon them, everyone is making their annual pilgrimage to the homestead—some with hopes of thwarting Charlotte’s dreams, others in anticipation of Nona’s latest pronouncements at the annual family meeting, and still others with surprising news of their own. Charlotte’s mother, Helen, a Wheelwright by marriage, brings a heavy heart. She once set aside her own ambitions to fit in with the Wheelwrights, but now she must confront a betrayal that threatens both her sense of place and her sense of self.
As summer progresses, these three women—Charlotte, Nona, and Helen—come to terms with the decisions they have made. Revisiting the lives and loves that have crossed their paths and the possibilities of the roads not taken, they may just discover that what they’ve always sought was right in front of them all along.


WHAT I THOUGHT: This is the quintessential summer read. Take it with you to the beach or the pool and sink into this wonderful story of the Wheelwright's. A wonderful famliy drama, It's not too heavy and I think you'll really like Charlotte, Nona, and Helen. I also liked the way Nona's memories are woven throughout the story which give you more insight into each of the leading women. Plus the cover is just absolutely adorable!






ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Nancy Thayer is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Hot Flash Club, The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again, Hot Flash Holidays, The Hot Flash Club Chills Out, and Moon Shell Beach. She is also the author of a new June release, Summer House. Nancy lives on Nantucket. You can visit her website at www.nancythayer.com.


EXCERPT: Charlotte had already picked the lettuces and set them, along with the bunches of asparagus tied with twine and the mason jars of fresh-faced pansies, out on the table in a shaded spot at the end of the drive. In July, she would have to pay someone to man the farm stand, but in June not so many customers were around, and those who did come by found a table holding a wicker basket with a small whiteboard propped next to the basket. In colored chalk, the prices for the day’s offerings were listed, and a note: Everything picked fresh today. Please leave the money in the basket. Thanks and blessings from Beach Grass Garden. She hadn’t been cheated yet. She knew the customers thought this way of doing business was quaint, harkening back to a simpler time, and they appreciated it.Perhaps it helped them believe the world was still a safe and honest place.

The day was overcast but hoeing was hot work and she had been up since four-thirty. Charlotte collapsed against the trunk of an apple tree, uncapped her water bottle, and took a long delicious drink. Nantucket had the best water on the planet: sweet, pure, and clear. It was shady in this overgrown spot, so she lifted off the floppy straw hat she wore, in addition to a heavy slathering of sunblock, and sighed in appreciation as a light breeze stirred her hair.She couldn’t linger, she had too much to do. She took another long drink of water, listened to her stomach rumble, and considered returning to the house for an early lunch.


When she heard the voices, she almost jumped.People were talking on Bill Cooper’s side of the fence, just behind the green tangle of wild grapevines. Hunky Bill Cooper and his gorgeous girlfriend. From the tense rumble of Coop’s voice and Miranda’s shrill whine, they weren’t happy.“Come on, Mir, don’t be that way.” Bill’s tone was placating but rimmed with an edge of exasperation.“What way would that be?” A sob caught in Miranda’s throat. “Truthful?”The moment had definitely passed, Charlotte decided, when she could clear her throat, jump up, and call out a cheerful hello. Vague snuffling sounds informed her that Bill’s dogs, Rex and Regina, were nearby, nosing through the undergrowth. She thought about the layout of Bill’s land: along the other side of the fence grew his everlasting raspberry bushes. The berries wouldn’t be ripe yet, so Bill and Miranda must be taking the dogs for a walk as they often did.She was glad the berry bushes grew next to the fence, their prickly canes forming a barrier between Bill’s land and Nona’s. A tangle of grasses massed around barberry bushes was wedged against the fence, and then there were the tree trunks. They would pass by any moment now. She would keep very quiet. Otherwise it would be too embarrassing, even though she had a right and a reason to be here.“I never lied to you, Miranda. I told you I wasn’t ready for a long-term commitment, especially not when you’re in New York all winter.”“You could come visit me.”“I don’t like cities,” Bill argued mildly.“Well, that’s pathetic. And sleeping with that—that slut—is pathetic.”

Miranda was striding ahead of Bill. She cried out, “Rex, you stupid, stupid dog! You almost tripped me.”“Mir, simmer down.” Bill sounded irritable, at the end of his patience.Miranda didn’t reply but hurried into the orchard of ancient apple trees. Bill followed, crashing through the brush. Charlotte could hear a few more words—I’m not kidding! It’s over, Bill!—then she heard the hum of their voices but no words, and then they were gone.“Gosh,” Charlotte whispered to herself.

Charlotte had had a crush on Bill Cooper for years. Coop was a hunk, but so easygoing and funny that when you talked with him you could almost forget how handsome he was. She seldom saw him, even though he lived right next door. Of course, “right next door” was a general term.Nona’s property consisted of ten acres with fifty feet of waterfront on Polpis Harbor, and the Coopers’ land was about the same size. With all the plantings, you couldn’t see one house from the other, even in winter when all the leaves had fallen.Like the Wheelwrights, the Coopers mostly summered on the island, the Wheelwrights coming from Boston, the Coopers from New York. Eons ago, when they were all little kids, Coop had played a lot with Charlotte’s brother Oliver, even though Oliver was younger, because Coop was an only child, and the two families got together several times over the summer for cocktails or barbecues.


Then came the years when they rarely saw each other, everyone off in college and backpacking in summer instead of coming to the island.Coop lived in California for a while, but three years ago his parents moved to Florida and Coop moved into the island house, telling everyone he wanted to live here permanently. He ran a computer software business from his nineteen-sixties wandering ranch house, mixed his plasma TV and Bose CD player in with his family’s summery bamboo and teak furniture, and was content. Mostly he allowed his land to grow wild, except for a small crop of butter-andsugar corn famous for its sweetness. At the end of the summer, he held a party outdoors, a clambake with fresh corn, cold beer, and icy champagne.

Charlotte had seen Coop and Miranda about town now and then, when she went in to catch a movie or pick up a prescription at the pharmacy. It was obvious why any man would fall in love with Miranda Fellows. She was a dark-eyed beauty hired to run Luxe et Volupté, an upscale clothing shop on Centre Street. She was British, and her accent thrilled the young, beautiful, rich, social-climbing set, men as well as women. She was such a snob, and Coop was such a genuine good guy, they seemed like an odd pair, but Charlotte hadn’t allowed herself romantic thoughts about Coop.She hadn’t allowed herself romantic thoughts about any man for quite a long while.

Her own move to Nantucket had not been a lighthearted, impulsive act. She’d thought about it a lot. She’d searched her soul. She came to Nantucket to get away from men—at least from one particular man—and to somehow balance with good acts the wrong she’d done. Her organic garden was her own self-imposed penance and repentance, and she’d been diligent and hardworking and nunlike for three years. She didn’t know when her penance would be over . . . but she knew she would find out when the time came.

Until then, she forced herself to work hard, every day.


I have one copy to giveaway!

To enter please leave a comment with your email!

Thanks so much, that's it for today

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

It's a TwoFER!!

Hey Chicks!!


I've got a couple for you today so hang in okay?!








FROM AMAZON: Sophie Heller's family immigrated from Germany to Victory, a small town in Illinois, before WWII began. Now that the war has affected the town, the townspeople discriminate against Sophie and her family. When a train derails, it is an accident but the Heller family is blamed. Coming to Sophie's rescue is a teacher from the high school, and despite their cultural differences, a romance starts to bloom.





WHAT I THOUGHT: I don't think I've ever read a book or seen a story that actually sympathized with the German immigration to America during and post WWII. Yet it's very hard not to do exactly that while reading this very poignantly written story of Sophie and her family. This is such a sweet love story set against an engaging backdrop that I think you might have a hard time not getting swept away.This is a great one to curl up with on a rainy summer afternoon.

I have 5 copies to give away courtesy of Anna at Hatchette!!

To enter please leave a comment with your email and "Moon" in your comment!!





Evolution of A Sad Woman
FROM AMAZON:Five very different men - all strangers - are drawn together to solve a murder by an uncommon thread - the love of the same beautiful woman, Kizzy. When she is murdered, they pull their past into their present, their present explodes, and their future is filled with surprise and changed forever! When police detective Evan Picard, attorney William Newton, cabdriver Jimmy Smithson, former pro-football player turned used car salesman Tom Hastings and Father C.D. Casmiersky are forced together - personalities explode, tensions build and relationships develop. The ending to this chapter of their lives and to Kizzy's murder will have a surprise none of them will ever expect.


Gale was kind enough to stop by and give us a Guest Post:


Her enticing, mystical, jeweled, green eyes will prey upon them forever . . . .
Five very diverse men---all strangers---are brought together to solve a savage murder by an uncommon thread---the love of Kizzy, the most beautiful woman they have ever known. When she is murdered, they are forced to wrench their past into their present, their present erupts and their future is filled with astonishment and altered forever!
They are taken down a long, winding investigation into a world of dangerous people and deceit.
When police detective Evan Picard, attorney William Newton, cabdriver Jimmy Smithson, former pro-football player turned used car salesman Tom Hastings and Father C.D. Casmiersky are forced together---personalities explode, tensions build and relationships develop. The ending to this chapter of their lives and to Kizzy's murder will have a surprise none of the will ever expect! ------------



Thanks Gale!
She's also offering a copy of her Book to one lucky commenter!!
Please leave a comment with your email and the word "evolution"
if you would like to win Gale's book.
Thanks so much!
That's it for today!!
READ ON CHICKS!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Short Girls...


FROM AMAZON: A mesmerizing novel about estranged sisters and the cultural and family history that binds themVan and Linny Luong are as baffling to each other as their parents’ Vietnamese legacy is to them both. Van, the quintessential overachiever, has applied the same studied diligence to her law career and marriage—a beau idéal that vaporized when Mr. Right walked out. Linny—pretty, fashionable, untethered—is grasping for purpose when her affair with a married man takes a humiliating turn. Each is the last person her sister would call, but when Mr. Luong summons them home for his American citizenship party, Van and Linny find themselves communing about their past—their late mother, their father’s obsession with his Luong Arm invention, even the irony of their romantic straits. As these unlikely confidantes chart the uncertainty that defines them, they forge a tentative new relationship and the wherewithal to overcome disappointment.

WHAT I THOUGHT: I love stories like this. People living on their own estranged from their families for whatever reason, who realize, when they're thrown together that they really needed each other all along. Linny and Van, completely opposite from each other, are both women you will grow to love and I think the theme of sisterhood and family ties reach far beyond the page. Their father Mr. Luong is a wonderful character as well. This story is both clever, witty and makes for a great read!


I have one copy to give away!


To enter please leave a comment with your email!


That's it for Today!


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Monday, July 13, 2009

The Night Gardener...



FROM Barnes and Noble:When the body of a local teenager is found in a community garden, homicide detective Gus Ramone relives intense memories of a case he worked twenty years earlier. When he was still a rookie, Ramone and his partner Dan "Doc" Holiday assisted legendary detective T.C. Cook as he investigated a series of killings involving young victims left overnight in neighborhood parks. The killer, dubbed, "the Night Gardener," was never caught. Since then, Holiday has left the force under a cloud of morals charges; he now works as a bodyguard and driver, taunted by his dreams of what he might have been. Cook retired, but he has never stopped agonizing about the unsolved case. Ramone is "good police," working as a homicide detective for the city's violent-crime division. He is also a devoted husband and father, and his teenage son, Diego, was a friend of the most recent victim, a boy named Asa." Could the Night Gardener be on the prowl again? Asa's death draws the three men together on a mission to finish the work that has haunted them for years. For T.C. Cook, it means solving one of the few cases that eluded him in his distinguished career. For Doc Holiday, the Night Gardener case is one last chance to prove - to Cook, to Ramone, and to himself - what kind of police officer he once was. For Gus Ramone, catching the killer means not only doing his job but knowing that his son will not be the next victim. The regret, anger, and fierce sense of purpose that once burned between them come rushing back as they race to lay to rest the monster who has stalked their dreams.
WHAT I THOUGHT:
Pelacanos never disappoints. His insight into his characters and how the story affects their lives is always what seems to keep the pages turning for me, the nail biting suspense is an added bonus. It's not just a crime story, it's a story that has you questioning yourself and your own ideas about right and wrong at every turn. I love the dialogue in this book, but be warned it is very raw.
I have 5 copies to giveaway courtesy of Valerie at Hatchette!
To win Please leave a comment with your email!!
That's it for today!
READ ON CHICKS!!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

SELF HELP SUNDAY!!!

It's SELF HELP SUNDAY
CHICKS!!
AND I have
TWO Books for you!!







SMART MAMA's GREEN GUIDE
FROM AMAZON:Parents often feel overwhelmed and defenseless against a never-ending recall list of toys and baby products. Deciphering unpronounceable chemicals they encounter every day can be daunting if not impossible. With environmental exposures being closely linked to 70 percent of birth defects, new parents faced with the overwhelming responsibility for their babies' health frequently turn to organic products. But they quickly find they don't have the time to practice a completely green or natural lifestyle. THE SMART MAMA'S GREEN GUIDE delivers the information busy parents want and the tools to make informed, individual choices without the demand to go all-out green. Packed with practical tips on eliminating or reducing the hidden dangers of toxic chemicals that lurk everywhere, this book will empower readers to control what comes into their homes and make informed decisions instead of relying on government regulation of harmful chemicals.
WHAT I THOUGHT: With the vast amount of information out there and all the differing opinions it can be pretty overwhelming. This book seeks to lay it all out for you without being overly opinionated. Very informative and easy to understand.
THE NDD BOOK
FROM AMAZON:
The Sears Parenting Library's latest addition is an exploration of how nutrition affects the brains and behavior of youngsters. N.D.D., or Nutrition Deficit Disorder, as coined by Dr. Bill Sears, is based on the idea that if "you put junk food into a child's brain, you get back junk behavior and learning."Dr. Sears will explore the latest scientific research on the effects of nutrition on the brain. He will present case studies of his own patients who were diagnosed as "N.D.D." and showed major improvement in learning and behavior with diet change. Instead of simply medicating his patients, Dr. Sears looked for a better solution--in fact, with better nutrition, many of his patients were able to greatly reduce or even stop their medication. The book will also provide parents with a prescription, shopping and meal tips, and recipes to make implementing a healthier lifestyle that much easier.THE N.D.D. BOOK will be a must-have for all parents who want to help their children become healthier, happier, and better prepared to learn.
WHAT I THOUGHT: A very interesting look at how diet and nutrition affects the way your child learns and how they behave. This book has a very easy to read approach complete with shopping lists and recipies...which, by the way are pretty yummy.
I Have 5 sets of these two books to giveaway
Courtesy of Anna At Hatchette
US and Canada only please no PO Boxes
To enter Please leave a comment with your email!
Do not forget your email!
That's it for today and
READ ON CHICKS!!

Friday, July 10, 2009

FREE BOOK FRIDAY!!



Hey There Chickies!

I've got a hot one for you!!




ONE SCREAM AWAY

by Kate Brady

FROM AMAZON: Killer Chevy Bankes is a master of disguise, and just paroled, he's coming after the woman who sent him to jail, the beautiful antiques expert Beth Denison. A set of antique dolls brings Beth into his sight, and inspire Chevy's disturbing crimes as he draws closer to Beth and her young daughter. Chevy sends the dolls to Beth one-by-one and she soon realizes that these antiques carry the same marks as his victims, signaling that the final piece in his collection will be for her.Neil Sheridan gave up his FBI shield five years ago, but his best friend Rick, a cop, pulls him in as a consultant on a case involving a serial killer who is eerily similar to a murderer Neil encountered in the past. The investigation leads Neil to Beth's doorstep, and he is certain she isn't telling him the truth. Neil is the only one who can get through Beth's defenses and, as they grow closer, discover the secrets that Beth is hiding about her fateful night with Chevy.




WHAT I THOUGHT: A really great romantic suspense. I think fans of earlier Nora Roberts or early Linda Howard will really like this. There was a twist here that I didn't see coming for awhile and a lot of edge of your seat suspense. I look forward to seeing a lot more from this author!




5 Copies to GIVEAWAY courtesy of Anna


at Hatchette!


All you need to do to win is


LEAVE A COMMENT WITH YOUR EMAIL!!!


That's it for today!


READ ON CHICKS!!


Monday, July 6, 2009

Here we Go!!




I've got a few things going on here today

chicks, so make sure you scroll all the way down to see the whole post!

First,

Marie Force,

author of Love at First Flight and Line of Scrimmage

is joining us today with a Guest Post and a giveaway!






Together Forever?
By: Marie Force
I recently read a review of my new book, Love at First Flight, written by a woman who was rocked to the core by something that happens in the book. The reviewer, married for more than twenty years to her high school sweetheart, wasn’t expecting a storyline about a man who’d been with the same woman for ten years (since he was seventeen) and had begun to wonder if he was missing out on something.

When we meet Juliana in Love at First Flight, she’s on her way to Florida to spend the weekend with her longtime boyfriend Jeremy. Together since their junior year of high school, the two are now twenty-seven and have been living together for four years. Until they are forced to spend an interminable year apart when Jeremy’s company sends him from their Baltimore home to do a job in Florida, Juliana had never given much thought to why they never married. But as the months of separation unfold, tiny cracks begin to appear in what she’d always viewed as an idyllic relationship.

During their weekend together, Jeremy confesses to his curiosity about other women, which tips Juliana’s world upside down. In writing their painful conversation, I tried to convey the epic struggle Jeremy has waged with wanting to remain faithful to the woman he has loved his entire adult life while contending with the uncertainty of whether he’s prepared to remain faithful to her forever. Jeremy’s curiosity results in Juliana suggesting they take a three-month break from each other to make sure they are both prepared to go forward together. Ironically, during their break it’s Juliana who finds new, unexpected love with a man she met in the airport on her way to see Jeremy.

The reviewer couldn’t help but see her own marriage through Jeremy’s eyes. Does her own husband wonder what he’s missed out on by being with the same woman all his life? Days after finishing the book, she continued to view her husband through different eyes and was unsettled by these new thoughts. We talked about it on her blog, and I urged her to talk to her husband, who would no doubt put her mind at ease.

I have friends who’ve been together nearly thirty years—since our freshman year of high school. In fact, they were our class couple. We’ve recently been closer than we ever were in school because our daughters became friends. After spending time with them, I’m amazed at how devoted they continue to be to each other even after all these years. It can happen. Lightning can strike at a young age, and the electricity really can last a lifetime. As I watch my children, now almost 14 and 11, grow up I wonder if their lifelong loves are just around the corner or further down the road. How will it happen for them?

How did it happen for you? Anyone out there married to their high school sweetheart and happily content? Do you ever wonder what you might’ve missed out on?
To find out what Juliana decides to do, you’ll have to read Love at First Flight, now in bookstores. If you wish to discuss all the rules I broke in the book, join me Monday, July 20, at 7 p.m. EDT on my blog (
http://mariesullivanforce.blogspot.com) for a book club



Marie has been kind enough to offer one copy of each of her books to one lucky winner!


All you need to do to win is leave a comment with your email!!




Next up:




Product Description From Amazon:



It is 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance, and Venice teems with rumors of an ancient book that holds the secret to unimaginable power. It is an alchemist's dream, with recipes for gold, immortality, and undying love. Everyone, rich and poor alike, speculates about the long-buried secrets scrawled in its pages and where it could possibly be hidden within the labyrinthine city. But while those who seek the book will stop at nothing to get it, those who know will die to protect it.
As a storm of intrigue and desire circles the republic that grew from the sea, Luciano, a penniless orphan with a quick wit and an even faster hand, is plucked up by an illustrious chef and hired, for reasons he cannot yet begin to understand, as an apprentice in the palace kitchen. There, in the lavish home of the most powerful man in Venice, he is initiated into the chef's rich and aromatic world, with all its seductive ingredients and secrets.
Luciano's loyalty to his street friends and the passion he holds for a convent girl named Francesca remain, but it is not long before he, too, is caught up in the madness. After he witnesses a shocking murder in the Palace dining room, he realizes that nothing is as it seems and that no one, not even those he's come to rely on most, can be trusted. Armed with a precocious mind and an insatiable curiosity,
Luciano embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. What he discovers will swing open the shutters of his mind, inflame his deepest desires, and leave an indelible mark on his soul.
Rich with the luxurious colors and textures of Venice, The Book of Unholy Mischief delights the senses and breathes fresh life into an age defined by intellectual revival and artistic vibrancy. A luminous and seductive novel, it is, at its heart, a high-spirited tribute to the fruits of knowledge and the extraordinary power of those who hold its key. In a world of violence an d in trigue, who guards the truth?



WHAT I THOUGHT:This book is different from anything I've read since...well..I can't remember when...I liked it, it had sort of a fairy tale feel to it that was fun and interesting. The author does a really great job of developing the characters and making you want to know more about them and paints a really beautiful picture of Venice.



That's it for today!


READ ON CHICKS!!