Amazon September Deal - 5 Star, Must Read!

I just saw on Amazon that Daughter for a Time is only $1.99 (Kindle version and free for Prime members) for the month of September.  This was a 5 star - Must Read book for me!  I loved this book.  You can read my review here.

Don't you love the Amazon deals?  Do you have any you would recommend?  If so, please leave a comment below.  I so enjoy reading a great book!

Have a great week!

Book Blogger Hop

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

Highlight one of your favorite reviews from the past month! 

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list  (enter your Blog Name, Genre you review, and direct link to your post answering this week’s question; failure to do so will result in removal of your link).

 3. Visit other blogs in the list, spending quality time getting to know the people you are visiting. Don’t just visit the post with the question, but click around and read some of the blogger’s other content, too! This Hop isn’t about the number of people you can visit, but the quality of each visit. Readers – find a new blog to read by clicking through the links in the list!

My Answer:

I have to go with Souviens by Barbara Darling Saxena.  I keep going back to Souviens for other blog hop answers.  Souviens is just that good.  If you haven't gotten my hints yet.....buy Souviens, you won't be sorry!

See me review here.

So L.A. - TLC Book Tours + Giveaway

My Rating:  A Good Read

Synopsis:  Beautiful Magdalena de la Cruz breezed through Berkeley and built an empire selling designer water. She'd never felt awkward or unattractive... until she moved to Los Angeles. In L.A. where everything smells like acetone and Errol Flynn Magdalena attempts to reinvent herself as a geographically appropriate bombshell with rhinestones, silicone and gin as she seeks an escape from her unraveling marriage and the traumatic death of her younger brother, Junah. Magdalena's Los Angeles is glitzy and glamorous but also a landscape of the absurd. Her languidly lyrical voice provides a travel guide for a city of make-believe, where even Hollywood insiders feel left out.

My Review:  I started out really liking So L.A., in fact I read the first 100 pages in 2 days (remember I am a sloooow reader).  After that, the book seemed to drag for me, until the last 75 pages.  I did like the short chapters (that is one of my favorite things!).  Overall, the story comes full circle.  I liked Magdalena and really liked Ricky and Puck.

There are a lot of extremely funny parts throughout So L.A.  The author knows her stuff about L.A.!  The book starts off in Northern California and the two locations, while completely different, are blended together and makes the story.  I also really liked the 5 Parts - "Takes" and the title for the chapters.  Very clever!

I was completely shocked on how So L.A. unfolds and what we find out near the latter part of the book (Take 4).  I would have never guessed the twist in the plot and the outcome.  Once I read what is reveled, it made more sense to me the 200 pages (approximately) that seemed to drag for me.  In hind sight, they were setting me up for the "punch."  It was a good read and I do recommend it.  It would make a great book club read.  Lots to talk about, that is for sure.  This is the authors first novel and I would purchase more books from her.

Meet the Author:  Bridget Hoida lives and writes in an imaginary subdivision off the coast of Southern California. In a past life she was a librarian, a DJ, a high school teacher and a barista. In this life she experiments with poetry and fiction and has taught writing at UC Irvine, the University of Southern California and Saddleback College. Bridget is the recipient of an Anna Bing Arnold Fellowship and the Edward Moses prize for fiction. She was a finalist in the Joseph Henry Jackson/San Francisco Intersection for the Arts Award for a first novel and the William Faulkner Pirate's Alley first novel contest. Her short stories have appeared in the Berkeley Fiction Review, Mary, and Faultline Journal, among others, and she was a finalist in the Iowa Review Fiction Prize and the Glimmer Train New Writer's Short Story Contest. Her poetry has been recognized as an Academy of American Poets Prize finalist and she was a Future Professoriate Scholar at USC. She has a BA from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California. So L.A. is her first novel.

You can connect with Bridget on-line at her website and Facebook.  You can purchase So L.A. on-line from Amazon for $16.00 ($6.99 Kindle version).

Giveaway:  I am so lucky to have one copy of So L.A. to giveaway.  Complete the form below and good luck.  Contest closes September 20th at midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guilty Wives by James Patterson

My Rating: Okay Read (Oh, it hurts me to rate it as such)

Synopsis:  No husbands allowed 

Only minutes after Abbie Elliot and her three best friends step off of a private helicopter, they enter the most luxurious, sumptuous, sensually pampering hotel they have ever been to. Their lavish presidential suite overlooks Monte Carlo, and they surrender: to the sun and pool, to the sashimi and sake, to the Bruno Paillard champagne. For four days they're free to live someone else's life. As the weekend moves into pulsating discos, high-stakes casinos, and beyond, Abbie is transported to the greatest pleasure and release she has ever known.

What happened last night?

In the morning's harsh light, Abbie awakens on a yacht, surrounded by police. Something awful has happened--something impossible, unthinkable. Abbie, Winnie, Serena, and Bryah are arrested and accused of the foulest crime imaginable. And now the vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime--for survival. GUILTY WIVES is the ultimate indulgence, the kind of nonstop joy-ride of excess, friendship, betrayal, and danger that only James Patterson can create.

My Review:  I have to be honest and say I didn't care for it.  I usually love James Patterson (and other co-author) books, but Guilty Wives didn't do it for me.  I thought the beginning was very fast paced and pulled me in.  The middle just dragged on for me.  The end of the book was really good too.  

The overall story is a good one. I just felt it could have been told in 100 pages or less.  

Whiplash River - TLC Book Tours

My Rating: Great Read

Synopsis:  Having left his life of crime behind, former getaway driver Charles "Shake" Bouchon has finally realized the dream of owning his own restaurant in Belize. Unfortunately, to do so he's had to go deep in debt to a murderous local drug lord named Baby Jesus. And when Shake thwarts an attempted hit on an elderly customer named Quinn, things go from bad to worse.

Next thing Shake knows, his restaurant's gone up in flames and he's on the run from Baby Jesus, two freelance assassins, and a beautiful but ferocious FBI agent. Out of options, Shake has to turn to the mysterious Quinn for help. Suddenly Shake's up to his neck in a dangerous score that he'll never pull off unless he can convince an even more dangerous ex-girlfriend to join him.

My Review: Whiplash River is a fast, action packed book.  This blended plot, many twists like the Amazon! It moved me along a compelling journey through exotic locations, including Belize & Cairo.  Every time I thought I figured out where the book was taking me, I was wrong.  As I kept turning pages, I continued to be surprised!

I wish I could go to Belize and Cairo after reading Whiplash River!  The author did a great job transporting there!  Whiplash River reminds me of "Dirk Pitt" novels by Clive Cussler, except with a criminal past. If you are looking for a suspenseful and quick read with a great story, pick up Whiplash River, today.

Whiplash River is a sequel to Gutshot Straight.  I have not read Gutshot Straight (but I now have it on my to-read list!).  You do not have to have read Gutshot Straight to read Whiplash River.  It does stand on its own.

Meet the Author:  Lou Berney is an accomplished writer, teacher, and liar who has written feature screenplays and created TV pilots for Warner Brothers, Paramount, Focus Features, ABC, and Fox, among others. His short fiction has appeared in the New Yorker,Ploughshares, the Pushcart Prize anthology, and other publications. His first novel, Gutshot Straight, was named one of the ten best debut crime novels of the year by Booklist and nominated for a Barry Award.

You can connect with Lou Berney on-line on his website or on Facebook.  You can purchase Whiplash on-line at Amazon for $14.99  ($10.98 for prime members and $9.99 for Kindle version).

Check out other reviews on the TLC Book Tours:

Tuesday, August 2nd: Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

Thursday, August 9th: Mysteries and My Musings – review

Monday, August 13th: No More Grumpy Booksellers

Tuesday, August 14th: Conceptual Reception

Thursday, August 16th: Life In Review

Monday, August 20th: Mysteries and My Musings – Q&A

Tuesday, August 21st: West Metro Mommy

Wednesday, August 22nd: she treads softly

Wednesday, August 29th: Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Monday, September 3rd: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Wednesday, September 5th: Seaside Book Nook

Thursday, September 6th: M. Denise C.

Monday, September 10th: Lance Mannion

Wednesday, September 12th: Kristina’s Favorites

Souviens - 5 Stars, MUST read

My Rating:  5 Stars, MUST Read!

Synopsis:  Could Dr. Dakota Graham, a busy family practice doctor, have inherited more from her ancestors than her brains and beauty? If she believes the unorthodox theories of Dr. Theo Everett, the scientist enlisted to cure her recurrent nightmares, Dakota has also inherited actual memories from her ancestors experiences. Their shared research into ancestral memories will have unexpected consequences that may destroy her family and threaten her future as well.

My Review:  Wow! Souviens is just that good.  

Souviens is two stories in one.  The book alternates between 2010 with Dr. Dakota Graham and 1934 with Grace Dunning.  Both are amazing stories that leave you wanting more.  Twice, I was late to work because I couldn't put it down.  Both stories are fast moving with fantastic characters.  I loved them all.  Well not the evil ones, but they made the book!  

The main story (the 2010 one) focuses on Dakota and dreams that she continues to have.  She finds a doctor, Dr. Everett, who specializes in dream therapy/research.  Dr. Everett is very evil and has his own agenda for Dakota.  He has a very immoral way of obtaining information he needs for his research.  It was very intense!

The secondary story (the 1934 one) focuses on Grace and Fenton Anderson.  Fenton is obsessed with Grace, so much so, he covers up the death of her child's father.  He continues to show up in her life (even though she isn't always aware of it) and the turn of events throughout the story are incredible. 

Souviens brings both stories together in a fantastic way that I didn't see coming. Each story is so different, and so good.  Both could be told on their own. Souviens takes place in Michigan, which added a point of interest, as I am originally from Michigan.  I don't seem to stumble across books that take place in Michigan.  

I am afraid that if I go into any more detail, I will spoil the book for you.  I 100% recommend you will love Souviens too.  Run out and buy it today!  It is too good!  A Must read book!

Meet the Author:  Barbara Saxena is a family practice physician in Grand Ledge, Michigan. She is a graduate of General Motors Institute, University of Michigan, and Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. In her free time, she can be found walking her pack of golden retrievers.

You can purchase (and I recommend you do) Souviens on-line at Amazon for $13.99 ($4.99 Kindle version).

Not Famous Anymore

Most of us dream of having the life of a movie star: the wealth, the fame, the adoration. One can even argue that it is the quintessential embodiment of the American Dream.  But what if you attain that life, only to find that it is not so much the American Dream as a “Waking Dream”-- an unreal and foggy existence that only pulls you farther from yourself? That’s what happens to Elliot Adrian, the “star” of award-winning novelist Michael Loyd Gray’s latest book, Not Famous Anymore.    

Movie star Elliott Adrian’s days are a whirlwind of parties, booze, and luxury. The problem is, none of it means anything to him. His outwardly perfect life is really just a prison, and although he cannot see the gilded bars, something deep within him knows he must escape before it kills him.  Deciding he doesn’t want to be famous anymore, he disappears from Hollywood and begins working his way back to his hometown in rural Illinois.

In his travels, Elliott meets many people who lead—on the surface—rather unenviable lives: the cab driver, the solitary rancher, the man pouring cheap beer in a small-town dive. But as each experience unfolds, he learns that they are in fact much richer men than he. Imagine his surprise when he tries to buy their friendship; they are not only unimpressed, but almost seem to pity him.  Through their kindness, honesty and quiet strength, he learns a most valuable lesson:  that giving of yourself is the only real currency.  

Not Famous Anymore is a social commentary, not only about the excesses of those living that Hollywood dream, but about everyone who aspires to live it without really understanding what it means.  It is about the millions of people who follow Ashton Kutcher on Twitter and watch every installment of the Real Housewives. But what makes this book so incredible is that is also about another America, filled with people who don’t care what Kutcher is doing. For these people, living the Dream means a different kind of abundance: nature, family, and the satisfaction of a hard day’s work. It is these people who help guide Elliott home.   

Gray is not snubbing his nose at wealth or fame, but simply reminding us of a lesson often forgot:  that material success, without direction and substance, can lead to an empty existence of moral decay and spiritual ruin.  Ultimately, the book is about turning away from the distractions of our technology- obsessed world and looking inward to find our own truth.  Elliott doesn’t check email, tweet or go on Facebook. He doesn’t even use the phone that much. He goes from living under a constant spotlight to living completely under the radar.  It is only then that he discovers that underneath all the superficial junk, he is a man with enough character, courage and moxie to face his own demons, and slay them. And that is a lesson we would all do well to learn.  To learn more about Michael Loyd Gray’s work, visit http://www.michaelloydgray.com/