Review: Safe Within by Jean Reynolds Page

Safe Within by Jean Reynolds Page

Publisher: 

Pages: 352 

Format: ARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Amazon:  Elaine and Carson Forsyth have returned to the tree house—Elaine's childhood home, a cabin nestled high in the branches of two oaks beside a North Carolina lake—where forty-nine-year-old Carson has chosen to spend the waning days of his life. As Elaine prepares for a future without her beloved husband, their solace is interrupted. Carson's mother, Greta, has set loose a neighbor's herd of alpacas and landed herself in police custody. While Carson, remarkably, sees humor in the situation, Elaine can only question what her obligations are—and will be—to a woman who hasn't spoken to her in more than twenty years.


In the wake of Carson's death, Elaine and their grown son, Mick, are thrust into the maelstrom of Greta, the mother-in-law and grandmother who never accepted either of them. Just as they are trying to figure out their new roles in the family, Mick uncovers unexpected questions of his own. A long-ago teenage relationship with a local girl may have left him with more than just memories, and he must get to the bottom of Greta's surprising accusations that he's not Carson's son at all. 




Kritters Thoughts:  A main character that is twice my age, but a story that hit very deep in an emotional sense - I thought this book had a less than positive central story, but the reader doesn't feel left down in the dumps. 


Elaine has moved into her childhood home on behalf of her dying husband's request, so they spend his last days in the place where she grew up.  With a mother-in-law who isn't the sweetest cupcake on the tray and a son who is trying to figure out how to move forward after dealing with more than one lose in a short time, this book was jam packed with characters that were trying to reconcile the past, the present and the future.


At first, I was apprehensive to recommend this to readers my age and would limit its readership to an older crowd, but about midway through I found the son, Mick's storyline very enjoyable and I had a change in heart.  I think this book could be read by a wide range of audiences.  I would hesitate recommending this read to someone who may have recently lost a loved one - it may hit too close to home.




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 A Cozy Reader's Corner.  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.


On tour:

Tuesday, June 12th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Wednesday, June 13th: Reading Lark

Thursday, June 14th: A Cozy Reader’s Corner

Friday, June 15th: Cover to Cover … and everything in between!

Monday, June 18th: Hospitable Pursuits

Tuesday, June 19th: Silver & Grace

Wednesday, June 20th: A Musing Reviews

Thursday, June 21st: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, June 25th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books

Tuesday, June 26th: Paperback Princess

Wednesday, June 27th: BookNAround

Thursday, June 28th: The Book Bag

Wordless Wednesday

Miss Emma and her Caillou bag from BEA - she loved it!

Review: Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

Publisher: Harper 

Pages: 416 

Format: ARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Catherine has been enjoying the single life for long enough to know a good catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic, spontaneous - Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. And her friends clearly agree, as each in turn falls under his spell. But there is a darker side to Lee. His erratic, controlling and sometimes frightening behaviour means that Catherine is increasingly isolated. Driven into the darkest corner of her world, and trusting no one, she plans a meticulous escape. Four years later, struggling to overcome her demons, Catherine dares to believe she might be safe from harm. Until one phone call changes everything. This is an edgy and powerful first novel, utterly convincing in its portrayal of obsession, and a tour de force of suspense.




Kritters Thoughts:  If a book can give you the creepies, then this one is first on my list.  I have read books where I am left on edge or wondering who dun it, but this one just made me want to check the security in our condo and make sure the dog would bark at anything other than the wind.


Catherine/Cathy is the main character and as the story progresses in two different time periods, the reader is able to see her get more antsy while at the same time reading how she got that way and the relationship that left her feeling out of control.  This style of unfolding the story worked so perfectly and I can't imagine the story being told any other way.  


The characters drove the story and even though she spent most of the book checking the locks in her house or being paranoid, I didn't feel it to be repetitive, I was getting more anxious as she was in the story.  When I get so involved with a character that my emotions are invested, I say that is a book worth passing on to friends and family.


Maybe the police connection added to my creeps or that I read it while he was on duty, but this one was successful at making me feel uncomfortable!  But if you are worried about getting the creeps, I always say that if the story couldn't happen to me then I am less likely to have nightmares.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row (need a light one after this one!)


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.


Rest of the tour stops:

Tuesday, May 22nd: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Wednesday, May 23rd: Cerebral Girl in a Redneck World

Thursday, May 24th: StephTheBookworm

Monday, May 28th: Jen’s Book Thoughts

Tuesday, May 29th: Kahakai Kitchen

Wednesday, May 30th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, June 1st: A Worn Path

Monday, June 4th: A Bookish Way of Life

Tuesday, June 5th: Book Reviews by Molly

Wednesday, June 6th: Book Addict Katie

Thursday, June 7th: Paperback Princess

Monday, June 11th: Mary’s Cup of Tea

Thursday, June 14th: Twisting the Lens

Friday, June 15th: “That’s Swell!”

Monday, June 18th: Book Hooked Blog

Tuesday, June 19th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, June 25th: Reviews By Lola

Tuesday, June 26th: Life In Review

Wednesday, June 27th: A Bookworm’s World

Friday, June 29th: Proud Book Nerd

Wednesday, July 4th: Tiffany’s Bookshelf

Thursday, July 5th: Veronica M.D.

Monday, July 9th: Booksie’s Blog

Thursday, July 12th: MariReads

Friday, July 13th: My Life in Not So Many Words

Review: The 500 by Matthew Quirk

The 500 by Matthew Quirk

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Pages: 336 

Format: ARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Mike Ford is a former con artist who's been plucked from his Harvard Law School classroom to be an associate at The Davies Group, Washington's most high-powered and well-respected strategic consulting firm. Their specialty: pulling strings and peddling influence for the five hundred most powerful people inside the Beltway, the men and women who really run Washington -- and by extension the country, and the world. 

The namesake of the firm, Henry Davies, knows everyone who matters; more importantly, he knows their secrets. Davies' experience goes back 40 years -- he worked for Lyndon Johnson, jumped shipped to Nixon, then put out his own shingle as the Hill's most cut-throat and expensive fixer. Now he's looking for a protégé to tackle his most high-stakes deal yet, and Mike fits the bill. 

Quickly pulled into a seductive, dangerous web of power and corruption, Mike struggles to find his way out. But how do you save your soul when you've made a deal with the devil?





Kritters Thoughts:  A political thriller that will take you inside the workings of Washington, D.C., the reader questions where the truth and fiction begin and end.  The book starts in the future for a chapter and the reader is taken into the past to explain the story that must take place to get the characters in that place.  Mike Ford the main character has had a sketchy past, but ends up in a job where his checkered past can be put to good use.  


The working relationships in the book were full of deceit and lies.  I loved the interweaving of storylines and even having moments in the past come back and haunt the characters in the present.  I wonder if this is true in the halls of our leaders in Washington, D.C.  Do they use past secrets to get a decision they want?  These characters all had closets full of secrets that they were using to hold each other accountability, at times it was hard to remember who had what secret and the details behind it.         


Living in the D.C. area, I loved this book because I am always intrigued by what happens behind the scenes on the hill or in these ancient buildings.  I think fans of the political thriller subgenre could enjoy this even if they aren't residents of the D.C. area, but I am more than excited to pass this onto friends who live and work in the area where this book takes place.  




Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel


April-June Challenge 2012: You Live Where?


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from the author at BEA.  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.  

It's Monday, What are you Reading? (76)

It is no longer a rumor - my mom has started a blog - Ope's Opinions.  She will be reading and reviewing quite the selection and giving her opinion!  It took quite a weekend to get her set up, but my sister and I got her up and rolling.    


A meme hosted by Sheila at BookJourney. 

Finished this past week:
Jennifer's Garden by Dianne Venetta
A Lighter Shade of Gray by Devon Pearse
Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer

Currently Reading:
Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes - all sorts of creepy!


Next off the TBR pile:

Safe Within by Jean Reynolds Page

In My Mailbox BEA style

A video blog with my mom who went along with me to BEA and help to collect her own pile of books to share!  You just may hear an announcement soon that she will be starting her own blog, raise your hands if you want a blog from a woman who reads from YA to picture books to her niece to Christian Fiction and beyond!

Margie at Ope's Opinions Picks:

One Good Friend Deserves Another by Lisa Verge Higgins

The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury

Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

Kristin at Kritters Ramblings Picks:
The Receptionist by Janet Groth

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck

The Adults by Alison Epsach 

Good Little Wives by Abby Drake
Running of the Bride by Rachel Eddey

A portion of the books that came home with us, some were gifted to friends and family.  I still can't believe what we were able to bring home.  Sorry no pictures to share.

A Fatal Debt by John Gapper

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Kiss and Make Up by Katie D. Anderson

If You Have To Cry Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone

Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington

Porch Lights by Dorthea Benton Frank

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

The Innocents by Francesca Segal

Tiger in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann

Please Forgive Me by Anne Bird Joseph Beatty

Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

Paris in Love by Eloisa James – Random

The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane

Dare Me by Megan Abbott

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Home by Morning by Alexis Harrington

Skinny by Donna Cooner

After Hello by Lisa Mangum

Everyone She Loved by Sheila Curran

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf

Courting Justice by Brenda Jackson

Private Arrangements by Brenda Jackson

Better Than Chocolate by Sheila Roberts

34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues

A Novel Panorama City by Antoine Wilson

Monster Hunter by Larry Correia

The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman

White Truffles in Winter by N.M. Kelby

The Lost Prince by Seldon Edwards

Heading Out to Wonderland by Robert Goolrick

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub

Before Versailles by Karleen Koen

The Absolutist by John Boyne

Rues of Civility by Amor Towles

BEA Buzz Books 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes Viking

The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner

A Million Heavens by John Brandon

Matched by Ally Condie

A Deeper Darkness by J.T. Ellison 

Don't Turn Around by Michelle Gagnon

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

And She Was by Alison Gaylin

Vanishing Girls by Katia Lief

The Cupcake Diaries by Katherine Kallinis and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne

Hotels, Hospitals and Jails by Anthony Swofford

The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper

The Tools by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels

Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon

A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

Summer and the City by Candace Bushnell – Harper

Legend by Marie Lu

Love Slave by Jennifer Spiegel

Review: Jennifer's Garden by Dianne Venetta

Jennifer's Garden by Dianne Venetta

Publisher: Bloominthyme Press

Pages: 394 

Format: book 

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In a race against time, cardiologist Jennifer Hamilton is caught between her mother’s dying wish and taking the risk of a lifetime with Jackson Montgomery. He’s the man hired to complete the landscaping for her new home; the venue for her upcoming wedding. Jackson’s everything she never wanted in a man, but as the job progresses, his lure pulls strong. It’s an attraction she cannot deny.

And one that puts her career on the line.





Kritters Thoughts:  In a nutshell, this book is a romance fiction, but it can not be just defined as a romance.  I may be speaking ahead of myself, but sometimes romance gets a bad rap - so I have to say that this piece of romance fiction has a heart and a full story.  


From the beginning, the reader is introduced to Dr. Jennifer Hamilton who is trying to juggle many stressors - planning a wedding, redoing her garden/yard at her home, and her ailing mother whose days are numbered.  Through all of these things her best friend is leaning on her for support and her fiance is changing their future plans and she must either go with the punches or make some dramatic changes.  


I felt the story, maybe because I could relate to many (not all) of the stressors, plus a few extra!  It was easy to get to know Dr. Hamilton and realize how she had become who she was and what it would take for her path to change.  There was also a subtle reminder that the events in our past absolutely shape the adult that we become and how our parents react to life's challenges will ultimately be how we will react to them in our adult years.  


With a few bits of sexy times, this has enough romance for the ultimate fan of the genre, but not too much that it is over the top and takes over the story.  So I would recommend this to both fans of the genre, but also to people who may be wary of the genre.




Rating: a perfect beach read

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from A Cozy Reader's Corner.  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.

Review: A Lighter Shade of Gray by Devon Pearse

A Lighter Shade of Gray by Devon Pearse 

Publisher: Neverland Publishing  

Pages: 472 

Format: ebook 

Buy the Book: Amazon  

Goodreads:  What does it feel like to stare into the face of madness? Or to anticipate your own? Would you drive away your only love? Could you pretend it didn't matter? How far would you go to protect a friend, or to avenge a death?

Ten years ago, Devon gave up the love of her life, fearing she would one day fall victim to the mental illness that has slowly ravaged the mind of her mother, who is now being cared for in a private facility. Just when it seems Devon might have a chance to make up for past mistakes, her best friend Cass becomes a suspect in the murder of her sister's drug-dealing boyfriend.





Kritters Thoughts: A Lighter Shade of Gray is a dramatic book that while the cast of characters was numbered, the plots were cumbersome.  It is easy for the reader to fall in love with these characters fast, but while there were a few too many major plots going at the same time, I was also discouraged to see the story really pick up when it was almost halfway over.


What I did love - I loved the use of journal entries to help incorporate Devon's best friend's point of view into the story.  It helped fill the story out by seeing things through her eyes through the journal.  Two other characters use the journal as a way to share their story and it was such a perfect way to have them "speak."  I thought it was unique and different.


I don't know it it was just me, but I felt as though the massive amounts of description words overwhelmed me and the story.  I wanted to strip away some of the description so the heart of the story could shine.


The moral of the review is that this book although a chunkster had quite a lot going on in description words used and plot lines.  Although it spanned quite a few years, these characters almost had too much drama; maybe it could have been split into two books.  

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


Ebook Challenge 2012: 30 out of 25  

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC 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.


Other Tour Stops:

Monday, June 11th: The Book Bag

Tuesday, June 12th: StephTheBookworm

Wednesday, June 13th: As I turn the pages

Thursday, June 14th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, June 18th: Veronica M.D.

Tuesday, June 19th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Wednesday, June 20th: Living in the Kitchen with Puppies

Tuesday, June 26th: Mary’s Cup of Tea

Wednesday, June 27th: Tiffany’s Bookshelf

Tuesday, July 3rd: Oh! Paper Pages

Tuesday, July 10th: Beastmomma

Monday, July 16th: Walking With Nora

Wednesday, July 18th: An Unconventional Librarian

Thursday, July 19th: Booksie’s Blog

Friday, July 20th: Silver’s Reviews