Review: A Sin Such As This by Ellen Hopkins

A Sin Such As This

by Ellen Hopkins

Publisher: Atria books

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Tara thought she was finally settling down when she married charming, handsome Dr. Cavin Lattimore, but life seems to be only getting more complicated. During the honeymoon, Tara’s niece Kayla moved into their Lake Tahoe home and quickly hooked up with Cavin’s manipulative, seductive son Eli. In a matter of weeks, Tara has gone from rich, single San Francisco professional to suburban housewife managing her niece’s emotional ups-and-downs, as well as her stepson’s continuing overt advances.

Adding to the family drama, Tara’s younger sister Melody is going through a serious marital breakdown. During a heated argument, her husband Graham insists he and Tara once had an affair. Despite Tara’s vehement denials, Melody is desperate to find the truth.

Enter Cavin’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend, Sophia, whose sudden relocation to Lake Tahoe is causing further shake-up. When Sophia is found murdered, police quickly narrow the list of suspects to Tara, Cavin, Eli, and Kayla. All four have motive. All four have lost themselves in a complicated web of lust, jealousy, and betrayal. But how far was one of them actually willing to go? Tara has always considered herself a tough, self-made woman, on her own since she was a teen after a childhood defined by poverty, abuse, and neglect. For years, she suffered the sins of others. But that doesn’t mean she never committed her own. Are the sins of the past about to catch up with her?

Kritters Thoughts:  SPOILERS throughout this review of the first book and this book also.  It was too hard to share my feelings without telling you the ins and outs of why I had these feelings.

In the second book in this series, Tara Lattimore has almost finished moving into her husband's home and combining their lives.  The trust issues that are in book one continue in this book and added to that is family drama when some s*&t goes down with her and her sister.  The stuff that goes on with her sister made me sad to read because I liked that her sister was the one person in book two that you could love and trust and I didn't want that taken away from her.  

The second book continued with the frustrating back and forth between believing either of the male characters and not believing the other.  I didn't want to spoil yesterday's review and state that I ended that book with no feelings resolved and unfortunately this book gave me even more frustration.  

Beyond the trust issues that continued, the main death that is featured in the synopsis happens in the last 50 pages and then all things are resolved in a clumsy way.  I felt as though 80% of the book was a close repeat to the first book and then you have all of the drama and action happen in the close of the book and I wanted that to happen earlier and have more build up and intrigue.    

Through all of this I am still an Ellen Hopkins fan, but I will just keep to reading her books that are full of creative and inventive poetry that seem to create such full and fantastic stories.  

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

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 50 out of 100

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.

Review: Love Lies Beneath by Ellen Hopkins

Love Lies Beneath

by Ellen Hopkins

Publisher: Atria books

Pages: 303

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Tara is gorgeous, affluent, and forty. She lives in an impeccably restored Russian Hill mansion in San Francisco. Once a widow, twice divorced, she’s a woman with a past she prefers keeping to herself.

Enter Cavin Lattimore. He’s handsome, kind, charming, and the surgeon assigned to Tara following a ski accident in Lake Tahoe. In the weeks it takes her to recover, Cavin sweeps her off her feet and their relationship blossoms into something Tara had never imagined possible. But then she begins to notice some strange things: a van parked outside her home at odd times, a break-in, threatening text messages and emails. She also starts to notice cracks in Cavin’s seemingly perfect personality, like the suppressed rage his conniving teenage son brings out in him, and the discovery that Cavin hired a detective to investigate her immediately after they met.

Now on crutches and housebound, Tara finds herself dependent on the new man in her life—perhaps too much so. She’s handling rocky relationships with her sister and best friend, who are envious of her glamour and freedom; her prickly brother-in-law, who is intimidated by her wealth and power; and her estranged mother. However perfect Tara’s life appears, things are beginning to get messy.

Kritters Thoughts:  Before I dive into my review, I want to give a disclaimer.  When I go into Ellen Hopkins books, I am excited to read outside the box and read a book made of poetry that is art and content and just awesome.  I was sad when I opened this that there is minimal poetry sprinkled within the book.  So warning.

From the beginning of the book, the reader is swept into Tara's life.  It is a little rough from the start but finally gets into a swing and you go from her being crazy and single to starting to get tied down.  After an injury sidelines her and really brings her to her knees, she has to start relying on others and you really see her shift.  I liked watching that change in the character.  Cavin Lattimore the doctor that walks into her life after her injury was interesting, with the addition of his teenage son, the reader has to pick on each page who to trust and it bounces back and forth.  There were times where I was excited that I had to decide who to trust and then there were moments where it got exhausting.  

Be warned there is a lot of sexy times and sexy talk in this one.  If that puts you off I would maybe stay away.  There is enough content and plot that it was ok on the sidelines, but at times it could get distracting.  I always like to warn about this content because I know not all readers want this in their reading life.  

In all, I liked this book, didn't love it as much as others by her.  Tomorrow I am reviewing the second book in the series.  


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

Review: Go Ask Fannie by Elisabeth Hyde

Go Ask Fannie

by Elisabeth Hyde

Publisher: GP Putnam's Sons

Pages: 304

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Everyone has baggage. The Blaire siblings are just taking theirs home for the long weekend.

When Murray Blaire invites his three grown children to his New Hampshire farm for a few days, he makes it clear he expects them to keep things pleasant. The rest of his agenda–using Ruth and George to convince their younger sister, Lizzie, to break up with her much older boyfriend–that he chooses to keep private. But Ruth and George arrive bickering, with old scores to settle. And, in a classic Blaire move, Lizzie derails everything when she turns up late, cradling a damaged family cookbook, and talking about possible criminal charges against her.

This is not the first time the Blaire family has been thrown into chaos. In fact, that cookbook, an old edition of Fannie Farmer, is the last remaining artifact from a time when they were a family of six, not four, with a father running for Congress and a mother building a private life of her own. The now -obscured notes written in its pages provide tantalizing clues to their mother’s ambitions and the mysterious choices she once made, choices her children have always sought without success to understand. Until this weekend.

As the Blaire siblings piece together their mother’s story, they come to realize not just what they’ve lost, but how they can find their way back to each other. In this way, celebrated author Elisabeth Hyde reminds readers that family survival isn’t about simply setting aside old rivalries, but preserving the love that’s written between the lines.

Kritters Thoughts:  I love a family drama with secrets and relationship woes and more and this book delivers from page one with all of the things you would want when there is a family that must confront things that have been hidden.

Three siblings head to their father's home and with three adult children there are current problems, but there are also things from the past that will come out.  

I absolutely adored this story.  I loved the three siblings and how they all reacted differently to the tragedy of their childhood.  It really showcased birth order and how one thing can affect people in so many different ways.  I love reading about those things in novels - makes me reflect about my family and the things that have made us who we are.  

After reading this book, I was surprised to find out she has quite the backlist.  Where should I go from this one?


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Penguin Random House.  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?

A busy full weekend but some great reading!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

A Sin Such As This by Ellen Hopkins
California Summer by Anita Hughes
Go Ask Fannie by Elisabeth Hyde
The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer

Currently Reading:

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash

Next on the TBR pile:

Heaven Adjacent by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Review: The Taste of Air by Gail Cleare

The Taste of Air

 by Gail Cleare

Publisher: Red Adept Publishing

Pages: 250

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  A simple phone call disrupts Nell Williams’s well-ordered life. Her mother, Mary, is in a hospital in Vermont. But her mother is supposed to be safely tucked away in an assisted-living facility in Massachusetts, so Nell can’t fathom why she would be so far from home.

After notifying her sister, Bridget, Nell hops on a plane and rushes to her mother’s side. There, she discovers that her mother has been living a second life. Mary has another home and a set of complex relationships with people her daughters have never met.

When Nell and Bridget delve deeper into their mother’s lakeside hideaway, they uncover a vault of family secrets and the gateway to change for all three women. 

Kritters Thoughts:  I waited a bit before reading this book, I was still having thoughts and feelings and wasn't ready to put them down, but here it goes.  I was on the fence about my feelings for the book and I still am - there were parts of this book that I completely adored, but then there were parts that were just ok for me.  

I LOVE mother/daughter/sister relationship books.  This one had all of the above and it was busting at the seams.  I love a book that explores birth order and how that affects each person if many different ways.  I love when the children of a parent don't know everything about their parent and upon learning the truth they have to rethink everything they knew.  We put parents in a bubble and when they act outside of that bubble, it makes you question more than just the parent and their actions!

Part of the reason that this book was just so so for me was I recently read a book where there were secrets between mother and daughter and the mother had an injury and couldn't talk so the daughters had to find out the information themselves - it felt like a repeat of a major plot point.  Without reading that book first, I would have liked this one a smidge more.

So to say it a little more concise, I would read another book by Gail Cleare, but I would definitely read the synopsis and make sure I was ready for the ride.


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

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 48 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.

Review: A June Bride by Marybeth Whalen

A June Bride

by Marybeth Whalen

Publisher: Zondervan

Pages: 120

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  It takes a reality TV show for Wynne to realize love isn't just a game.

Wynne Hardy never thought she'd get engaged on a reality TV show, but when she met Andy on The Rejection Connection, the two of them hit it off. Now he's asked her to marry him, much to the public's delight and fascination. They're all set to wed on live TV in a seaside ceremony at the height of the wedding season.

But just as Wynne thinks all her dreams are coming true, her ex-boyfriend walks back into her life at the worst possible time. Steve broke her heart years ago, and she's still sorting through her feelings for him. Her heart isn't as clear as her head that it's past time to move on---even though she's engaged to Andy.

At a local TV talk show appearance, Wynne meets Meredith, who won another reality TV show---Marathon Mom---proving herself nothing short of a superhero. As Wynne's beach wedding plans spin out of control, Meredith offers to help, unknowingly stepping on Wynne's secret feelings . . . and exposing some secrets Meredith has been keeping to herself. Can these two reality stars get real about their feelings? Will Wynne go through with her televised wedding and be the perfect June bride the network is looking for?

Kritters Thoughts:  Wynne Hardy did a reality show after a horrible break up and she has found her match.  Her wedding is upcoming and this is where the book starts.  Wynne and Andy have the final preparations for the wedding to do and of course with any wedding there will be a bit of drama!

This novella reminded me that I do love reading short stories and novellas.  The reader knows that a lot of action has taken place before this part of the story starts, but you are just getting a glimpse into the full story.  Unlike the previous novella I read in this collection where all the action took place in such a short amount of time, things felt rushed.  

I had read one book by Marybeth Whalen before I started this one and enjoyed that one.  It was published after this one, so it was interesting to think about that book compared to this novella.  I liked this one in the collection.  It gave me hope to read more, we shall see if I keep up reading them month to month.  
Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 45 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from netgalley.  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: Best Beach Ever by Wendy Wax

Best Beach Ever

by Wendy Wax

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  After giving up their renovation-turned-reality-TV-show Do Over, the ladies of Ten Beach Road move into cottages at the Sunshine Hotel and turn their beloved Bella Flora over to its wealthy mystery tenant. Now, each woman will be forced to reexamine and redefine her life, relationships, and dreams.

Kritters Thoughts:  The sixth book in the series and this book is different from the rest of the series.  This is the first book where there isn't a formal house renovation and instead the book solely focuses on the characters and what is going on in their lives beyond a home renovation.  

The thing that I loved most from the previous books was the characters, so I was excited to read a book that didn't focus on the drama of a home renovation as that felt like it had been done a few times in this series; instead this book is all about the women.  Although this book felt a little disjointed because the women were in and out of each other's lives, it made the book feel fresh and new.  Wendy Wax did a great job of giving each woman a moment or more in the book for their stories to progress.

The one big thing I can say about this book and most in the series is you can read them with some time in between because there is so much recap in the beginning.  Having read book one and two just before this one, it felt repetitive and frustrating, but I could see if you read them sporadically that recap would help with your reading experience.  I would appreciate this more if there was some time in between my reading.  

With a Florida setting and a focus on the beach and sunsets, I was so glad that I was able to keep this book for my beach vacation, it was the perfect addition to my beach bag.  


Rating: perfect beach read

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 49 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  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: Ocean Beach by Wendy Wax

Ocean Beacb

by Wendy Wax

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 448

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Unlikely friends Madeline, Avery and Nicole have hit some speed bumps in their lives, but when they arrive in Miami’s South Beach neighborhood, they are all hoping for a do-over. Literally. They’ve been hired to bring a once-grand historic house back to its former glory on a new television show called Do-Over. If they can just get this show off the ground, Nikki would get back on her feet financially, Avery could restart her ruined career, and Maddie would have a shot at keeping her family together. 

At least, that’s the plan – until the women realize that having their work broadcast is one thing, having their personal lives play out on TV is another thing entirely. Soon they are struggling to hold themselves, and the project, together. With a decades-old mystery—and the hurricane season—looming, the women are forced to figure out just how they’ll weather life’s storms…

Kritters Thoughts:  The second in a series and like the first, I had read book 3-5 before reading this one, so this almost felt like a prequel to what I had already read since I read them out of order.  Parts of these books are self contained with the house that they are renovating being contained within each book, but there are absolutely parts in the book that are character development that go from book to book that helps when you actually read them in order!

With this being book two in the series there was some recap in the first few chapters that made it feel repetitive only because I read them back to back.  But once you got beyond that point, the reading felt new and original.  

I absolutely adored the home that they restored in this book.  I loved the mystery behind its owners and bringing the house back to life while also celebrating him and his deceased wife's life.  The main ladies were also great in this book, the character development felt more prevalent in this book because the ground had been set in book one.  

This book made me excited to read book six and continue with the series.  I felt like I learned some back history that I was missing when I had read book three-five.  I have read book six and my review will be going up tomorrow, come back to hear my thoughts as I am officially caught up in the series.


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

Review: Ten Beach Road by Wendy Wax

Ten Beach Road

by Wendy Wax

Publisher: Berkley Books

Pages: 432

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Madeline, Avery, and Nikki are strangers to each other, but they have one thing in common. They each wake up one morning to discover their life savings have vanished, along with their trusted financial manager- leaving them with nothing but co-ownership of a ramshackle beachfront house.

Throwing their lots in together, they take on the challenge of restoring the historic property. But just as they begin to reinvent themselves and discover the power of friendship, secrets threaten to tear down their trust-and destroy their lives a second time.

Kritters Thoughts:  The first in a series based on a group of women who are all in bad spot after they are taken by a Ponzi scheme and they all find out they have a share in a run down home in Florida, so they make their way to Florida and decide what to do next.

Before I had read this book I had already read book 3, 4 and 5.  I had always wanted to go back to the beginning and read book one and two, so I did just that.  

Having already met the characters before, this felt like a prequel a little, even though it was book one.  I loved how each character had a back story before the Ponzi scheme and this moment in their life set all of their lives on a tail spin and after finding each other and the beautiful home in Florida the story really starts.  I loved that there were women from all points in life and they each needed the other for one reason or another.  The characters less than the action really make this book and the series.

I can't tell if I would have enjoyed this book more if I had started at this book, but even after reading most of the series, I appreciated going back to the start and reading this.  It did read fast because I wasn't clueless from the beginning!  I would probably suggest starting here before embarking on this series, it would have laid a good foundation.  

Tomorrow on the blog, I will review book two in this series.

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

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

Here are two weeks worth of reading, the week before vacation which was nutty getting ready for the vacation and other things going on and then the week of vacation!


A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Cooper's Charm by Lori Foster
The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable
The Taste of Air by Gale Cleare
Best Beach Ever by Wendy Wax
Christmas at the Beach by Wendy Wax
Love Lies Beneath by Ellen Hopkins
Me, My Hair and I by Elizabeth Benedict

Currently Reading:

A Sin Such As This by Ellen Hopkins

Next on the TBR pile:

California Summer by Anita Hughes

May - merry month of BOAT!

source

So May was a big month in our house, so I am impressed by all the reading I completed during this crazy month. We had a lot go on but the biggest thing that happened was that my husband and I completed the purchase of a boat. We will be becoming boaters this summer and it is fun and stressful to start a new hobby as an adult!


1. The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go by Amy E Reichert
2. After Anna by Lisa Scottoline
3. The Italian Party by Christina Lynch
4. Becoming the Talbot Sisters by Rachel Linden
6. Happier Thinking by Lana Grace Riva
7. How Far She's Come by Holly Brown
8. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
9. I See Life Through Rose Colored Glasses by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella
10. Ten Beach Road by Wendy Wax
11. A May Bride by Meg Moseley
12. A June Bride by Marybeth Whalen
13. Ocean Beach by Wendy Wax
14. Cooper's Charm by Lori Foster
15. The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable
16. Christmas at the Beach by Wendy Wax
17. The Taste of Air by Gale Cleare
18. Best Beach Ever by Wendy Wax
19. Love Lies Beneath by Ellen Hopkins


Total pages read, clicked and flipped:  5,487

Where having I been Reading?:
Milwaukee, WI
Philadelphia, PA
Italy
New York City, NY
Florida (4)
Atlanta, GA
Ohio
Massachusetts
Vermont
Colorado

Review: Off: Your Digital Detox for a Better Life by Tanya Goodin

Off: You Digital Detox for a Better Life

by Tanya Goodin

Publisher: Harry N Abrams

Pages: 122

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Walk down any street, stroll through any park, step into a bar or restaurant, and everyone is glued to their mobile devices. Many of us struggle with the near-constant urge to check our phones—the average person interacts with their device more than 2,600 times a day—and this dependence is affecting our relationships, our work, and our quality of life. It seems the technology that was supposed to connect us has tipped us in the other direction, creating unnecessary stress and distance in our lives.

Off: Your Digital Detox for a Better Life isn’t about reverting to a tech-free way of life—it’s about balance. Digital entrepreneur Tanya Goodin offers a guide that will free up hours of your time and lead you back to the pastimes (and people) you love. Learn to cultivate a healthier relationship with your digital devices by adopting simple practices that encourage mindfulness, deeper connection to others, more restful sleep, and increased creativity. Illustrated with serene and inspiring photography, Off will help you free yourself from technology and be more present in your own life. 

Kritters Thoughts:  A short and sweet little book that makes you stop and take a minute and reevaluate your habits.  With beautiful photos it was easy to sit down with this book and take a minute and sink in and really read it simply for what it is.  

Although none of the tips were things that I hadn't heard of before, reading them in a book took more meaning than in an article online and made me stop and take note of how often I am on my phone.  I think with everything in life it is good to have boundaries and limits and this little book reminded me that everything is good in moderation!

I kept this book to get it out every so often and remind me to take a breather from all things electronic and enjoy a view!


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

Review: A May Bride by Meg Moseley

A May Bride

by Meg Moseley

Publisher: Zondervan

Pages: 124

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  She’s prepared for her wedding all her life … but she forgot a few things.

Ellie Martin, a country girl in Atlanta, often de-stresses from city life by tending the flower beds of a church near her apartment. She has dreamed of a traditional wedding all her life, a wedding like the one her younger sister is planning back in their hometown. Their single mom will pay for Alexa’s wedding, but Ellie started her own wedding fund years ago. She only needs to find a groom.

She bumps into a man who’s a guest at a wedding on the church grounds. She’s noticed him around the neighborhood, but today he introduces himself as Gray Whitby. They embark on a whirlwind romance, but her mother doesn’t trust freewheeling men like him. Standing up to Mom leads Ellie to stick up for Alexa too. When Ellie risks her own plans for her sister’s sake, Gray feels betrayed. Will he always play second fiddle?

Will Ellie and Gray reconcile their differences so her dream wedding can come true, or will the romance they’ve begun come crashing down?

Kritters Thoughts:  A christian fiction novella length story that is a part of a collection.  A collection of monthly bride books was published in 2014 and I was intrigued to read a few of them - this was one.  

This one centers around Ellie Martin who is a new real estate agent in Atlanta, GA and comes from an interesting family that takes over her thoughts often.  You can tell from early on in the book that her family has made an impact on her and maybe not the most positive impact.  In walks Gray Whitby who will try to sweep her off her feet and in any romance book nothing can go just right.  

I think the big problems I had with this one was the author was trying to go from 0 to 60 in 120 pages and it just felt too much in such a short space, so it made feel too much like a roller coaster.  She was trying to jam a full romance novel into half the time and romance novels need the pages for the couples to have the ups and downs of a relationship, so this felt rushed and just off putting.  

I would read this author again, just may prefer to try a full length novel next time.


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

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 43 out of 100

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