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Friday, January 31, 2014

Review: After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman

After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman 

Publisher: William Morrow
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:   When Felix Brewer meets nineteen-year-old Bernadette "Bambi" Gottschalk at a Valentine's Dance in 1959, he charms her with wild promises, some of which he actually keeps. Thanks to his lucrative-if not all legal-businesses, she and their three little girls live in luxury. But on the Fourth of July, 1976, Bambi's comfortable world implodes when Felix, newly convicted and facing prison, mysteriously vanishes.

Though Bambi has no idea where her husband-or all of his money-might be, she suspects one woman does: his devoted young mistress, Julie. When Julie disappears ten years to the day that Felix went on the lam, everyone assumes she's left to join her old lover-until her remains are eventually found in a secluded wooded park.

Now, twenty-six years after Julie went missing, Roberto "Sandy" Sanchez, a retired Baltimore detective working cold cases for some extra cash, is investigating her murder. What he discovers is a tangled web of bitterness, jealously, resentment, greed, and longing stretching over three decades that connects five intriguing women: a faithful wife, a dead mistress, and three very different daughters. And at the center is the man who, though long gone, has never been forgotten by the five women who loved him: the enigmatic Felix Brewer.

Somewhere between the secrets and lies connecting past and present, Sandy will find the truth. And when he does, no one will ever be the same.



Kritters Thoughts:  Three sisters, a wife and a mistress are left behind by a man who flees before justice can be served and he may serve time.  This book takes a look at not only these five women and what they must go through when left behind, but his friends as well and how his cowardliness affects everyone.  

Presented in a different way with alternating chapters - one chapter would be in the past while the next would be current as the Detective Sandy is undergoing his investigation into the cold case.  It was obvious as to what time it was and who was the center of the chapter, I loved reading about Sandy's discoveries and then the story behind the piece of evidence next.  

I haven't read that many by Laura Lippman, but this one felt different for some reason.  This was the first time where I felt like the solution to the crime/situation took awhile to get to and I think I wanted it or at least a piece of it to have come earlier.  I still loved it and would definitely recommend it to any reader who loves the mystery/thriller genre.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Harper Collins.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Review: Phoenix Island by John Dixon

Phoenix Island
by John Dixon

Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 320
Format: book
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  A champion boxer with a sharp hook and a short temper, sixteen-year-old Carl Freeman has been shuffled from foster home to foster home. He can't seem to stay out of trouble, using his fists to defend weaker classmates from bullies. His latest incident sends his opponent to the emergency room, and now the court is sending Carl to the worst place on earth: Phoenix Island

Classified as a terminal facility, it's the end of the line for delinquents who have no home, no family, and no future. Located somewhere far off the coast of the United States and immune to its laws, the island is a grueling Spartan-style boot camp run by sadistic drill sergeants who show no mercy to their young, orphan trainees. Sentenced to stay until his eighteenth birthday, Carl plans to play by the rules, so he makes friends with his wisecracking bunkmate, Ross, and a mysterious gray-eyed girl named Octavia. But he makes enemies, too, and after a few rough scrapes, he earns himself the nickname "Hollywood" as well as a string of punishments, including a brutal night in the sweatbox. But that's nothing compared to what awaits him in the Chop Shop: a secret government lab where Carl is given something he never dreamed of. 


Kritters Thoughts:  Carl Freeman has not had an easy moment in his life from losing his parents at an early age to bouncing around the foster care system because he just can't help sticking up for those being bullied - but was something bigger in the works?  

Carl was a character that from the beginning I grew to love and fight for - I wanted what was best for him.  I loved the different characters beyond Carl, they were all crafted so perfectly to revolve around him and the struggles that he was facing.  The concept of this far away camp that raises boys to be mercenaries isn't far from reality in parts of the world and it was hard at times to read and realize that thought.  

Besides the violence, this book is a perfect YA read for the boys.  I loved the internal struggle and the way Carl dealt with his demons.  A fantastic break from my normal reads.

Rating: perfect YA read (for boys!)

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Simon and Schuster.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.



Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Review: Sisters in White by Melissa Foster

Sisters in White by Melissa Foster

Publisher: World Literary Press
Pages: 354
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Danica and Kaylie Snow are about to celebrate the biggest day of their lives—their double wedding—on an island in the Bahamas. But no wedding is complete without a little family drama. The two sisters aren’t ready to face the father they haven’t seen since he divorced their mother and moved away to marry his mistress, and live with Lacy, the half sister they’ve never met.

While Danica has exchanged letters and phone calls with Lacy, Kaylie has fervently tried to pretend she doesn’t exist. Lacy is sweet, fun, and nearly a mirror image of Kaylie. To make matters worse, not only is Lacy looking forward to meeting her sisters, but she idolizes them, too. As the countdown to the wedding date ticks on, their parents are playing a devious game of revenge, and there’s a storm brewing over the island, threatening to cancel their perfect wedding. The sisters are about to find out if the bond of sisterhood really trumps all.



Kritters Thoughts:  

SPOILER - do not read this review if you have not read the first two books in the series

Kaylie and Danica are two sisters that have gone through quite a bit in this series and thankfully are headed out of town for a double wedding!  I have officially fallen in love with these sisters as they have fallen in love with men and gone on the roller coaster called life.  

A dual wedding in Bahamas was a recipe for drama when these two sisters have parents who had a rough divorce, interesting in-laws to-be and friends who bring their own drama!  I loved that the characters that I grew to love in previous books all showed up for the wedding, it was nice to "see" everyone in the same room.  

Heavy on the romance, these books are not for the faint of heart and one may want to only read these in the comfort of your home, I may have blushed a time or two!  The third in the Snow Sisters series and the final that is just about these two sisters, I am kind of sad to see them go!  


Rating: perfect beach read  
    (even though it may be January, I would pack these to reread in my beach bag!)

Ebook 2014 Challenge: 5 out of 100


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from the author.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Review: The Tulip Eaters by Antoinette van Heugten

The Tulip Eaters
by Antoinette van Heugten

Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  It's the stuff of nightmares: Nora de Jong returns home from work one ordinary day to find her mother has been murdered. Her infant daughter is missing. And the only clue is the body of an unknown man on the living-room floor, clutching a Luger in his cold, dead hand. 

Frantic to find Rose, Nora puts aside her grief and frustration to start her own search. But the contents of a locked metal box she finds in her parents' attic leave her with as many questions as answers—and suggest the killer was not a stranger. Saving her daughter means delving deeper into her family's darkest history, leading Nora half a world away to Amsterdam, where her own unsettled past and memories of painful heartbreak rush back to haunt her. 

As Nora feverishly pieces together the truth from an old family diary, she's drawn back to a city under Nazi occupation, where her mother's alliances may have long ago sealed her own–and Rose's—fate.


Kritters Thoughts:  There are quite a few books that have many takes on the section of history involving Nazis and their destruction, but this one took a new take that I loved!  Nora is a daughter who is completely unaware of her past as her parents moved her from Amsterdam just after she was born and did not dwell on their past once they settled in Texas.  She comes home from work to find her young daughter is kidnapped and her mother has been murdered except a Dutch man is also dead in her home and here is where the story begins.

Moving easily through past and present, the author takes the reader and Nora through Nora's past to enable her to solve the mystery of what happened to her family's past that may have caused her mother's murder.  It was so interesting to hear a new side of Nazi involvement in people's lives, but there was more to this story beyond that part of history.  The theme of family was apparent in each chapter as Nora was trying to define what her family looked like and what was her new reality.

I read this book in one day, loved it!  It is my second book by Antoinette van Heugten and I am officially a fan of her writing as she tackles difficult subject matters without the book feeling too heavy.

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Shelton Interactive.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Review: The House on the Cliff by Charlotte Williams

The House on the Cliff
by Charlotte Williams

Publisher: Bourbon Street Books
Pages: 352
Format: book
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  One woman's quest to discover the dark secret at the heart of a family.

Actor Gwydion Morgan's dramatic appearance at Jessica Mayhew's psychotherapy practice coincides with a turbulent time in her own life - her husband has just revealed that he's spent the night with a much younger woman. Gwydion, son of the famous Evan Morgan, is good looking and talented but mentally fragile, tormented by an intriguing phobia. Jessica is determined to trace the cause of his distress. So when his mother phones to say he is suicidal, Jessica decides to make a house call. The Morgans live in a grand cliff-top mansion overlooking a rocky bay with its own private jetty. It's a remote and somewhat sinister place. On her visit, Jessica finds out that an au pair who looked after Gwydion as a child drowned in the bay in mysterious circumstances. Could it be that Gwydion witnessed her death? In her quest to help her client, Jessica finds herself becoming embroiled in the Morgans' poisonous family dynamic. At the same time, she has to deal with the demands of her own domestic life: her struggle to keep her marriage intact, as well as her older daughter's increasingly defiant behaviour. And then, of course, there is the growing attraction she feels towards her new client . . .


Kritters Thoughts:  A psycho therapist gets caught up in a client more than she ever has and at the same time she is dealing with drama in her home life, this book definitely had the eery feeling from beginning to end.  Set in Wales, and with a fantastic cover, the author did a fantastic job of setting the stage for a dark and cold story with quite a mystery involved.  

There was quote a lot of psychology words wrapped up in the story, but I may have skimmed over that part to find the story.  A who dun it with a fantastic twist at the end, although I may have predicted a few parts, I was a little bit surprised with the killer's identity.  I think the simplicity in the characters was superb.  I was thankful that the author didn't muddle the story with describing and spending time with any of Jessica's other clients who weren't central to the story.  

I wanted to love this book more, but at the same time I think it was perfect to read it in the middle of winter.  If you enjoy the dark mysteries, you would benefit by picking up this one and could probably read it pretty quickly.

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.




Sunday, January 26, 2014

It's Monday, What are you Reading?


What a fun week in reading, such good reads!  It did help that we had a little snow with a snow day!

A meme hosted by Sheila at BookJourney. 

Finished this past week:
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Labor Day by Joyce Maynard
A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro
Two Sisters by Mary Hogan
The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley
Phoenix Island by John Dixon

Currently Reading:
Something New by Janis Thomas

Next on the TBR pile:
Fallen Beauty by Erika Robuck

Friday, January 24, 2014

Review: A Measure of Blood by Kathleen George

A Measure of Blood
by Kathleen George

Publisher: Open Road 
Pages:400 
Format: eARC 
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Nadal watches for weeks before he first approaches the boy. No matter what Maggie Brown says, he’s sure Matt is his son, and a boy should know his father. After their first confrontation, Maggie should have run. She should have hidden her child. But she underestimated the man who was once her lover. With self-righteous determination, Nadal goes to her house. He demands to spend time with the boy. When she refuses, he reaches for a knife.

By the time homicide detective Richard Christie arrives on the scene, all that remains of Maggie Brown is a bloodstain on the floor. The killer has vanished, and Matt is too scared to remember anything but his mother’s fear. As Christie looks for the killer and Maggie’s friends fight to keep Matt out of the hands of Child Services, Nadal watches the news and waits. A boy should be with his father. He’s going to get his son.



Kritters Thoughts:  A detective gets attached to a case where a little boy is left orphaned and witnesses the person who kills his mom.  He is determined to find the killer and make sure this child ends up in a great home.  

Although you know who the killer is from the beginning and are reading his every move, this book was still interesting as you had no clue when he would be entering the scene and creating havoc!  I read this book in two sittings, it kept me guessing from beginning to end!  As any who dun it does, this book took some fantastic turns and when to a place that I couldn't predict and loved it!  

Complete with a chase (can't give too much away), I loved the flow of this book and will definitely be keeping my eye out for the next one from this author.

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2013 Challenge: 83 out of 50

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from JKS Communications.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Review: Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi

Unbearable Lightness
by Portia de Rossi

Publisher: Atria
Pages: 320
Format: book
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Portia de Rossi weighed only 82 pounds when she collapsed on the set of the Hollywood film in which she was playing her first leading role. This should have been the culmination of all her years of hard work—first as a child model in Australia, then as a cast member of one of the hottest shows on American television. On the outside she was thin and blond, glamorous and successful. On the inside, she was literally dying.

In this searing, unflinchingly honest book, Portia de Rossi captures the complex emotional truth of what it is like when food, weight, and body image take priority over every other human impulse or action. She recounts the elaborate rituals around eating that came to dominate hours of every day, from keeping her daily calorie intake below 300 to eating precisely measured amounts of food out of specific bowls and only with certain utensils. When this wasn't enough, she resorted to purging and compulsive physical exercise, driving her body and spirit to the breaking point.


Kritters Thoughts:  Portia de Rossi is known for portraying hard, self-confident women in tv shows, but in reality she lived a life lacking of self confidence and fighting internal demons.  As I wasn't aware of Portia de Rossi until she was out and dating Ellen, most of this story was completely new to me and very interesting.

Interesting to say the least that this now proud gay woman who is married to an outspoken lesbian, there were some moments where I was ready for her to meet Ellen and her life to start changing!  There were quite a few pages devoted to the body issues she was having and the means with which she was manipulating her exercise or eating habits to achieve what she thought would be the perfect body.  I am not sure this was touched on enough, but I think a big part of her issues started with the modeling at a young age and a mother who supported a 12 year old dieting.  I wish she had put more detail into the mother/daughter relationship and how that probably brought her to the issues she was trying to overcome.  

Overall a great celebrity book, that I would recommend to readers who are interested in reading the details of how Portia de Rossi came onto the Hollywood scene and the things that she hide from the outside world.

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

January Book Haul Part 2



Books a Million trip:
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Eve by Anna Carey  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Faith by Jennifer Haigh  (Goodreads  Amazon)

Purchases:
Mennonite Meets Mr. Right by Rhoda Janzen  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Starstruck by Lauren Conrad  (Goodreads  Amazon)
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken  (Goodreads  Amazon)
The Matzo Ball Heiress by Laurie Gwen Shapiro  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Fishbowl by Sarah Mlynowski  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Good Times, Bad Boys by Melanie Murray  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Dollhouse by Kardashian  (Goodreads  Amazon)
The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Local Knowledge by Liza Gyllenhaal  (Goodreads  Amazon)
The Dairy Queen by Allison Rushby  (Goodreads  Amazon)
The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Summer in the Land of Skin by Jody Gehrman  (Goodreads  Amazon)
So Much Pretty by Cara hoffman  (Goodreads  Amazon)
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen  (Goodreads  Amazon)

Swap Sites:
And Sometimes Why by Rebecca Johnson  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Remedies by Kate Ledger  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Inside Out Girl by Tish Cohen  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook  (Goodreads  Amazon)
Happily Ever After by Harriet Evans  (Goodreads  Amazon)


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Review: House of Miracles by Ulrica Huma

House of Miracles by Ulrica Hume

Publisher: Blue Circle Press
Pages: 218
Format: book
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In these delightful, at times unsettling stories, we meet two very different women: baby boomer Janet MacDonald, who, despite a blossoming career in San Francisco, feels sure that she is cursed, and her elderly, eccentric neighbor, Mrs. von Meurs. When Janet’s relationship with boyfriend Jack, a struggling photographer, is tested, they drift dangerously apart. It is Mrs. von Meurs, alone and at the end of her life, who tries to keep them together. 

At the heart of House of Miracles is the kaleidoscopic way the diverse characters are connected to Janet and Mrs. von Meurs. Secrets are revealed, and each woman must find her way, whether through a troubled past or into an uncertain future. Sometimes it seems that hope is not only “the thing with feathers,” but it is all they have. That, and the real possibility of miracles.

Kritters Thoughts:  A collection of stories where characters hop in and out, but there are a few that are the main.  Janet and her off and on boyfriend Jack were my favorite of the main characters and whenever they were the focal point, I loved it.  I was able to follow their story and the ups and downs and enjoyed the real quality of their relationship.

With moments of confusion, I would warn future readers to really sit down with this one and maybe take some notes on the characters.  There were a few chapters where I had to take a few pages to find out who was even talking.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more



Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from the author.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Review: What I Had Before I Had You

What I Had Before I Had You
by Sarah Cornwell

Publisher: Harper
Pages: 288
Format: book
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  A woman must face the truth about her past in this luminous, evocative literary novel of parents and children, guilt and forgiveness, memory and magical thinking, set in the faded, gritty world of the New Jersey Shore.

Olivia was only fifteen the summer she left her hometown of Ocean Vista. Two decades later, on a visit with her children, her nine-year-old son Daniel, recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, disappears. Olivia’s search for him sparks tender and painful memories of her past—of her fiercely loving and secretive mother, Myla, an erratic and beautiful psychic, and the discovery of heartbreaking secrets that shattered her world.


Kritters Thoughts:  Is bipolar disorder genetic?  Can it be passed down from generation to generation?  This book made me think twice about these questions and even do some research of my own.  With three definite generations battling various levels of the disease and hints at even more family members suffering from the disease in the past, it was very interesting to read about the different ways this disease can manifest and affect people.  The other thing that the author did a fantastic job of was showing how other family members are affected by the attention that those who suffer get due to their disease.

By far, this was not an easy read due to subject matter, but it was definitely an intriguing read.

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.