Tag: writing

Room 706 by Ellie Levenson

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Room 706 is a mesmerizingly captivating, can’t put down, heart stopping story which takes place in a hotel room which has been taken over by unknown terrorists. It follows the journey of a couple trapped in the hotel who have been having an affair for years as they now try to not only navigate what is happening inside the hotel, but also how they differ in reflecting on how their presence will be seen by their loved ones if they survive or if they die. The story is told in the present as they deal with explaining or not why they are here, but also explores not only how their relationship began, but Kate’s past and all that has happened in her life to somehow justify where she is and how she got there and what one does when dealing with preparation for the unpreparable.

Kate is happily married with two young children. She works, takes care of her children, the house and her husband. She has very little time for herself. Except for one secret. For years once every few months she meets James, her lover at a hotel. Just for sex. No talk of families, work, etc. This is something she does just for herself. A secret which not only satisfies but empowers her. It never crossed her mind that anyone would ever find out.

Until the unimaginable happens and they are trapped in their hotel room as they watch television and discover the hotel has been taken hostage as have all the people in it. Now Kate must text her husband and explain somehow why she is in the hotel when he thought she was at a meeting.

But what ends up happening is that Kate begins to reevaluate and explore her life and how she has lived. She starts to make lists, just in case, knowing her husband will need assistance. We learn of Kate’s life and heartbreaks. We also discover that Kate and James know nothing about each other and see life very differently. She ponders why this day? And the what ifs…they had gone to a different hotel or had finished earlier and left.

This story is about love, fear, death and forgiveness. It’s about looking back, evaluating and trying to move forward not knowing what the future could possibly entail. Room 706 is an incredible life journey which will jolt you.

Thank you #NetGalley #SJPLit #SarahJessicaParker #EllieLevenson #Room706 for the advanced copy.

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Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea

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I am pretty sure I have not read one book by author Charlie Donlea which I have not thought was perfection! Summit Lake is no exception. Filled with dozens of surprises and an epic shocking ending, you will devour the story until you are just exhausted. The twists and turns and secrets of this amazing story are exceptional.

There has been a murder in Summit Lake, a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Becca Eckersley, a first-year law student at her father’s alma mater went up to the family’s lake house to study for tests and was brutally murdered.

Investigative reporter for a magazine, Kelsey Castle, back on the job after taking a leave of absence gets assigned the story. Kelsey believes this is a slam-dunk robbery gone bad and Becca was killed by a random break-in.

The story, which is told in chapters, Kelsey’s by her, Becca’s as a story which begins when she was in college and ending on the fatal night she died are both riveting and hold so many secrets each chapter will astound you.

Kelsey soon discovers that there may have been some sort of coverup by the police in this sleepy town. But why? What is there to hide? She discovers buried in Becca’s past are many hidden clues to what may have happened. Why then is no one talking except some of the locals whose theories run the gambit?

But the closer Kelsey gets to the truth, the more she feels she is being followed and then begins to be questioned by the detective looking into the murder. She knows this proves she’s on the right track and won’t stop for Becca and also because she discovers this hits too close to her own past.

Who or why would someone kill sweet Becca Eckersley? And what were the secrets she took to her grave?

Summit Lake is a spine-chilling psychological thriller which will have you racing with Kelsey to the very unexpected conclusion!

Published by Kensington.

The Eight Hearbreaks of Hanukkah by Jean Meltzer

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Author Jean Meltzer, known for her beautiful uplifting stories about people who are surviving chronic illness, herself included, and how they endure by showing strength and toughness always trying to be uplifting even when met with pain, or in this case heartache. The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah is the epitome of the movie: It’s A Wonderful Life/A Christmas Carol. It has humor, mixed with a combination of sadness, grief, loss and yes, heartbreak, but more, it’s a story about strength, love and togetherness.

Evelyn Schwartz is producing a live TV showing of A Christmas Carol. With only a few days left until air everything which could go wrong, goes wrong! Evelyn is a workaholic who does not sleep and gets debilitating migraines. So, when she has an accident on the set, while having a migraine they call for the show medic who unfortunately is Evelyn’s ex-husband David who is substituting for the permanent medic.

They have been divorced for two years and the breakup for Evelyn was unexpected. David just up and left one day, saying nothing. So, you can imagine how that meeting went with David insisting Evelyn go to the hospital and telling David where he should go!

Because David knows Evelyn so well, he tries to tell her to at least get some rest and take her medicine. But Evelyn would rather die than do what David tells her. But then some crazy things begin to happen to her. She begins to be visited by ghosts…Hanukkah ghosts, the first being her former mentor who passed away years ago who informs Evelyn she must change her ways. But Evelyn believes this was a dream and she’s just exhausted.

Until she is visited by the first ghost named One. Who takes Evelyn down memory lane and it’s not great. As the snippets from each ghost get harder and harder to endure, she turns to David who seems to be predominantly placed in these visits from the past.

She begins to live the unlivable, including her losing David and what led up to that traumatic experience. Why is this happening and right now when her main focus is to put on a great show? She’s been able to suppress all these difficult memories for years. Why now are they being awakened?

The Eight Days of Hanukkah is a warm, sad and yes, heartbreaking story of loss and trauma, but not only is it filled with wonderful life lessons, more importantly, it is filled with hope, love and anticipation of what has yet to come by finally admitting that by understanding what you couldn’t because your own light had gone out you can realize just how to light the match to see again.

Thank you #NetGalley #Mira #JeanMeltzer #TheEightDaysofHanukkah for the advanced copy.

This Is Not A Ghost Story by Amerie

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This Is Not a Ghost Story is an enjoyably inventive twist on…a ghost story! Set in modern day, it is quite unique in that it encompasses a mystery, is part romance, funny and has a dysfunctional family thrown in for good measure. It takes the reader on quite an adventure!

John, a ghost, enjoys his life living in his house and has done so for many years. One day, a dark grey man-shadow literally throws him out of the house. He lands In Los Angeles. All he wants to do is go back home but has no idea how. The most startling thing about John is people can see him.

Unable to remember anything about his past, he seeks guidance by visiting a “psychic” who tells him he can help get him back home and they begin a present-day journey with a few other folks met along the way including a publicist and a want to be actress. John immediately becomes the new sensation on television, and social media with everyone trying figure out if he is really telling the truth. Of course, there are also people who want to jump on the John band wagon who will say and do anything to get into the spotlight.

The group begin to bond as John begins to get rich off his appearances. But when the grey man-shadow appears again, something starts to happen to him. He seems to fade. With the help of his new friends, they try to take care of him, all the while John is trying to remember where he lived and came from when he was alive. Also, why has this happened to him?

Will John find his way home? This Is Not a Ghost Story can be intense, but it is very humorous, sad, touching and filled with hope and love.

Thank you #NetGalley #WilliamMorrow /HarperCollins #Amerie #ThisIsNotAGhostStory for the advanced copy.

Whistling Women and Crowing Hens by Melora Fern

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Whistling Women and Crowing Hens is a powerful story about a young woman whose determination and strength will help her to never stop trying to achieve her goals. During a time (the 1920’s) when women were meant to get married and have children, one girl, with a bit of luck and a great amount of talent will decide to go on a different journey, even though her family is very against it, and become an independent adult no one will be able to stop.

Birdie Stauffer is talented. She can play the trombone and whistle songs mimicking birds while doing so. She pleads with her sister to audition for an all-female traveling musical group for the summer. With the help of another girl, Helen who plays the piano she is accepted.

Unfortunately, her sister Lydia whom she lives with refuses to allow her to go. But Lydia’s husband, Gerald finally convinces her, and she excitedly waves goodbye and jumps on the first train to meet the other members of the Quintet.

And… what a summer it will be. Exhausting, anxiety ridden, the girls not getting along and for Birdie, first love, but also horrific treatment of some of them. What will not change during this summer is Birdie’s determination to succeed and be creative. She will always root for the other girls, and they will try and protect each other when they can. Only one thing gives her pause…going back home to her sister at the end of the summer.

As her independence grows, she realizes the hold her sister has on her. But how can Birdie who loves Lydia very much make her realize she doesn’t have the same goals as her sister. She doesn’t want to settle down, get married and have children. She wants to continue pursuing her passion, which would mean leaving Lydia.

But Lydia has a different idea of what’s good for Birdie.

Whistling Women and Crowing Hens is a wonderful look at how a young woman becomes empowered and strong and learns to be her own person. Once emboldened she is finally able to decide her future no matter what that means.

Thank you #BooksForward #JacieKarneth #MeloraFern #WhistlingWomenandCrowingHens for the advanced copy.

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

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Aftertaste is an extraordinary novel which encompasses so many genres. It’s a ghost story, a love story, part science fiction but also with a mystery/suspense element. It’s also about food and loss and how sometimes the taste of something can bring up a memory of someone who has passed. It also explores how love can change a person as well as what someone in love would do for the person they love.

Kostya Duhovny’s father tragically dies when he is ten years old. It changes his life forever. His mother checks out of life and lays in bed, Kostya at his young age must fend for himself, sometimes barely eating and being constantly bullied by the other children.

One day when he goes to the local pool, he begins to get this sensation in his mouth of a particular food he and his father use to make together. He becomes aware that perhaps his father is trying to tell him something, but what? He can’t imagine.

Years go by and Kostya begins to get use to this sensation of taste. Always different, never the one he got from his father. Unable to understand why this is happening, waiting for something else to push him to what he needs to know, he continues with life and its struggles. And he truly struggles.

Until one-night years later when he is a bus boy at a bar and someone comes in, and he begins to get the taste for a particular drink. Kostya decides to make the drink and serve it to the person who has just come in. And then he knows what he is supposed to be doing with this gift. He is to reunite the dead with a person they are missing so they can have one last conversation.

Of course, needless to say this does not go over so well when he decides to start his own restaurant! When something happens to his best (and only) friend, he is devastated, but his aftertaste draws him to a girl. Someone whose sister has passed. While trying to help her, they fall in love.

But unbeknownst to either of them there are problems with this gift and the afterlife. Kostya gets himself in trouble in the present but also begins to cause havoc in life after death. Now unfortunately he is the only one who can stop this train wreck his life is on and the trajectory of the afterlife.

Aftertaste is a heartwarming tale with so much love and loss but yet beautiful in a way that cannot be described unless you read this moving, delicious story.

Published by Simon & Schuster

Here For A Good Time by Pyae Moe Thet War

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In this wonderfully creative romantic comedy/suspenseful thriller, Here for A Good Time gives the reader just that…a great, satisfying read! With many book genres meshed into an exciting, adorable suspense story set on a private isolated island, two roommates will experience every emotion known to mankind, fear, regret and of course love, just to name a few. Oh, and believe it or not, they are actually kidnapped!

Poe Myat Sabei is a writer, or in her words a won hit wonder. Her first, and only book was not only a bestseller, but also optioned by Netflix. Exciting right? Not to Poe who has not been able to write a single word in a very long time. Now unfortunately she has writer’s block, or I have no ideas block.

Zwe who is her best friend and roommate and is her encourager and motivator have been friends since college. His parents own a bookstore and although Zwe would love to try and get his PhD, he works at the store to help his aging parents.

So, Poe comes up with an idea for an exotic all-inclusive vacation on a private island figuring if she can convince Zwe to go with her not only will he be able to relax, but that’s all she will need to push her to come up with an idea and start writing again. He agrees to go, reluctantly.

But what happens next is astounding!

The serenity and excitement soon turn into a nightmare. They are suddenly kidnapped by a group of women with masks no less who want to take the island over. Why Poe and Zwe? Who are they? This was certainly not on the menu of activities they had signed up for!

Now they are dragged by these abductors and forced into their craziness as they begin the takeover. Once the kidnappers are finished with them, they are going to leave them to die! Unfortunately, at first Poe and Zwe begin to turn on each other as they start to rehash all of their lives’ misfortunes (and each other’s) and dissect what they both thought was a pretty solid relationship.

As it gets close to the end of the road (literally) and they realize just how much they mean to each other and need each other to figure out a way out of this situation, will they be able to keep their wits and come up with an idea to somehow con their abductors, or will they kill each other before they get killed?

Here For A Good Time is funny, gripping story with amazing twists and turns and a very satisfying ending.

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #PyaeMoeThetWar #HereForAGoodTime for the advanced copy.

What About the Dead Bodies by Ken Jaworowski

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In this unique thriller, What About the Bodies, you will somehow fall in love with the three main characters, villains in their own right. With so much heart, promising futures and strength, if they can just make it through the next few days, you will suddenly find yourselves rooting for them and their happily ever after no matter what they have to do to get there, and boy let me tell you, it’s pretty deadly trying to get there.

Carla is a single mother whose son Olly, an MIT student has just admitted to her he has made a terrible mistake. Carla, a waitress her whole life has just finally been able to buy her own restaurant and begin to change their lives. Now, her future is unsure and no matter what she does this news will transform the trajectory of their lives.

Reed is a fifteen-year-old autistic boy whose mother has just died. Not well liked by anyone in the town, bullied his whole life, his only protector is now gone. His older brother who is married and has a young child wants him to move away to a different city; Reed is at a crossroads. Especially when he discovers that a promise he made to his mother went unfilled and he must somehow rectify the situation. He begins a long trek which will take him to many places in there small-town, meeting up with some shady characters but also some compassionate, caring folks.

Liz has always been a guitar player, writer and musician. She has just been let go of another music gig at another sleezy bar in the town. With a car ready to break down and less than one hundred dollars in her bank account and no money to pay her bills or fix her car she is at a crossroads in her life. Until she gets a phone call from Nashville which could possibly change her life. She just has to get there. But her car breaks down and her shady boyfriend, not boyfriend convinces her to go to an ex-con to fix it and now she’s in very big trouble.

You will become smitten with the characters as you watch these three lost souls whose lives will inevitably interconnect and feel their heartbreaks only intensify as they realize they are going to lose it all…their hope, their desire and their future. As for the dead bodies? Well, you will just have to read this fascinating story to find out about them.

Thank you #NetGalley #AtlanticCrime#KenJaworowski #WhatAboutTheDeadBodies for the advanced copy.

The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake by Rachel Linden

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The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake is a wonderful, magical healing read! It is filled with love, regrets, hope and mending past choices. It is also filled with Italian delicacies and of course the Orange Blossom Cake! Yes, there may be a bit of magic, but in the end the power of strength comes from inside themselves. In the end it’s all about familia!

Jules Costa has an on-line cooking show with her roommate. But when he is wooed by an LA company to star in his own show, he decides to take the opportunity and go leaving Jules to have to decide to end her beloved show. But she also has a bigger problem. She signed to create a cookbook of her favorite Italian recipes. Unfortunately, since her father’s tragic death years ago, she can’t even remember the food she cooked with her Nonna Bruna in Italy where her family has an olive farm. And her deadline is fast approaching.

Enter her mother who decides she wants to spend the summer with Jules’ stepfather and Jule’s stepsister Alex has nowhere to go so her mother is insisting they both go to Italy to visit Nonna Bruna. But Jules has never really been close to Alex and has not stepped foot in Italy since her father’s death. But she decides to take the trip because she hopes Nonna will be able to help with her memory of all the foods they use to cook when life was so simple.

But when they get there, Alex already wants to go back and basically sits on her phone or in her room alone. And Jules discovers that her first love, Nicolo has not only come back to their small town but is helping her Nonna with the upkeep of the farm. You see Nicolo’s Nonna and Jule’s Nonna have had a feud going on forever with no one really know what happened.

As the girls settle in Jules discovers her Nonna’s recipe book. It is blank. She asks Nonna but she will not tell her why. But Nonna does tell her about a recipe which has magical properties, Orange Blossom Cake. But they must figure out how to create the recipe. Could this cake be the answer to all their prayers?

As they all work together to find answers, they also discover there has been much left unsaid since Jule’s last visit. As the healing begins, everything starts to fall into place. But is it really magic or just love? Will we ever know?

The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake is such a funny burst of love, even though it has heartbreaking moments, in the end those moments are what make you stronger and happy and at peace. Oh, and yes, the recipe for this magical cake is at the end of the book!

Thank you #NetGalley #Berkley #RachelLinden #TheSecretofOrangeBlossomCake for the advanced copy.

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I Am You by Victoria Redel

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I Am You is a passionately heartbreaking, complex love story set in the 1600’s in which two women’s lives one whose social status is higher, evolve and revolve around each other. Their need to be together prevails on so many different levels and yet they sometimes appear to be like oil and water, a desperate need to be separate. But in the end, they can’t resist the love and need they each feel which will last their whole lives. This wonderful story although fiction, is based on the real Maria van Oosterwijck, who was the only female painter at the time.

In Amsterdam, back in the 1600’s a young woman must disguise herself as a boy in order to survive in the house she is a servant. An orphan, she has nowhere to go. Her name is Gerta Pieters, but they all know her as Pieters, a young boy. Except for one person. The young daughter of the esteemed family suspects what Gerta is doing. Her name is Maria van Oosterwijck and she is a painter.

When it is decided that Maria must move for her career, she insists that Gerta accompany her as her servant. And thus begins the story of these two women as they try to exist in a male dominated society with Maria attempting to break through the men’s monopoly in art as a painter.

But their lives will become even more tangled as Maria treats Gerta as her servant but also her teacher and shows Gerta how to use colors and paint. But teacher and student become entangled even more so as they begin to get closer and fall in love.

As time goes on and Gerta’s progress in art begins to shine, Maria begins having physical problems which make her unable to work without Gerta’s help. But this must be kept hidden, as is most of their relationship. Gerta must hide her talent for the sake of her employee as well as their love story. Unfortunately, jealousy is a silent green-eyed monster.

Gerta finds it difficult to maneuver all the moving pieces of their complicated lives which is made even more complicated by Maria’s nephew who Gerta is resentful of and dislikes. But Maria too is envious as Gerta begins to become known in the art world.

I Am You is a mesmerizing love story, set in a time when this love could never be known, when a woman painter was unheard of and whose relationship was so much more than what anyone would ever have suspected. Where one of them begins, the other will be there with love and their secrets for an eternity.

Thank you #NetGalley #SJPLit #VictoriaRedel #IAmYou for the advanced copy.

Pre order now. Book comes out September 30.