The Last Man

Synopsis:  An invaluable CIA asset has gone missing, and with him, secrets that in the wrong hands could prove disastrous. The only question is: Can Mitch Rapp find him first?

Joe Rickman, head of CIA clandestine operations in Afghanistan, has been kidnapped and his four bodyguards executed in cold blood. But Mitch Rapp’s experience and nose for the truth make him wonder if something even more sinister isn’t afoot. Irene Kennedy, director of the CIA, has dispatched him to Afghanistan to find Rickman at all costs.

Rapp, however, isn’t the only one looking for Rickman. The FBI is too, and it quickly becomes apparent that they’re less concerned with finding Rickman than placing the blame on Rapp.

With CIA operations in crisis, Rapp must be as ruthless and deceitful as his enemies if he has any hope of finding Rickman and completing his mission. But with elements within his own government working against both him and American interests, will Rapp be stopped dead before he can succeed?

My Review:  Once again Vince Flynn has hit a home run with his latest Mitch Rapp novel.  The Last Man (as in the last man you wan to mess with) is extremely fast-paced and can be finished in a day or two.  

So engrossing is this latest novel, that you’ll miss half a day as you are immersed in the behind the scenes in Afghanistan.   Stan, Irene, Mike and Scott are all back, along with a ghost from Rapp’s past. 

Vince Flynn doesn’t disappoint with this latest installment, and you’ll be on the edge of your seat throughout the book.  Beware, a major twist is involved that I didn’t see coming, but Mitch Rapp was all too aware of.

I love Vince Flynn books - I have read the entire Mitch Rapp series and can't wait for the next one to come out every year.  I think there should be a movie (or two or three) made out of the series....just saying!

Meet the Author:  Vince Flynn (isn't he so cute!!) is a best-selling American author of political thriller novels.  He is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and three children. You can connect with Vince online, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Purchase It:  You can buy The Last Man (and all other Vince Flynn books) online at Amazon for $27.99 (Kindle version $12.99 and $15.99 for Prime members).

The Literary Giveaway Blog Hop - Amazon GC Giveaway

Welcome to the Literary Giveaway Blog Hop!

The Literary Giveaway Blog Hop is hosted by Leeswammes. Between now and Wednesday, October 31st, you can hop to 50 different book blogs, all offering one or more giveaways of books or bookish items. All books will be literary (non)fiction or something close to that. Follow the links at the bottom of this post to find the other participating blogs.

Giveaway

I am giving away a $15 Amazon gift card or a book of your choice from Book Depository up to $15.  Just complete the form below....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Hop Stops

Leeswammes Read in a Single Sitting Ephemeral Digest My Devotional Thoughts Devouring Texts Tony's Reading List Nishita's Rants and Raves Too Fond The Parrish Lantern Kristi Loves Books The Book Club Blog Sam Still Reading Silver's Reviews (USA) Bibliosue Heavenali Under My Apple Tree Misfortune of Knowing (North America) Lena Sledge's Blog Lost Generation Reader Seaside Book Nook The Relentless Reader Rikki's Teleidoscope Monique Morgan That READioactive Book Blog kaggsysbookisahramblings Ragdoll Books Blog Kate's Library The Book Garden Uniflame Creates Curiosity Killed The Bookworm

Ciska's Book Chest The Book Divas Reads Alex in Leeds Simple Clockwork Bluestalking (USA) Fresh Ink Books Sweeping Me Giraffe Days Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book (USA) Books Thoughts Adventures (USA) emmalikestoread Colorimetry Page Plucker Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity 2606 Books and Counting Book Nympho She-Wolf Reads The Little Reader Library (Europe) Booklover Book Reviews Dolce Bellezza

Things Remembered TLC Book Tours

Synopsis: To face the future, a woman must let go of the past. . . .

Returning to her childhood home in the golden hills of Northern California means regret and pain for Karla Esterbrook. Yet she can’t refuse when her ailing grandmother, Anna, asks her to help settle her affairs. After all, Anna raised Karla and her younger sisters after their parents’ death twenty years before. But from the beginning a powerful clash of wills separated Karla and her grandmother, leaving them both bitter and angry.

Little does Karla know that a very determined Anna will do everything in her power to bridge the chasm between them. But can the wounds of the past truly be healed? For Karla, opening her heart could lead to more hurt—or perhaps to reconciliation . . . and a love the likes of which she has never known.

My Review:  What a great time of year to read Things Remembered.  It takes place in Northern California in the fall/Thanksgiving!  While you are craving Thanksgiving dinner, make sure you have plenty of Kleenex too.  Things Remembered is a very touching story involving Anna, the grandmother, and three sisters she raised (her granddaughters).  The focus on the story is really around the older sister, Karla and Anna (the grandmother).  

As Karla is helping Anna settle her affairs (she is dying), she meets Mark.  He is a single father that Karla sparks up a little romance with.  He also helps break down the walls that Karla has built around her.  The walls come down as Anna and Karla help each other remember the daughter/mother they both lost.  The emotional toll both ladies go through is so touching and real.  Of course Mark is there to help Karla.  

This is a "re-write" of Things Remembered as it was originally published in 1998.  The author updated it by "modernizing" it for today's world. I hope it was "re-written" because the author is writing a sequel.  It would be really good to pick one of the other sisters to write about....just a thought Georgia.

One of my favorite lines "...when she was twenty and had believed old age to be fifty.  Of course she'd changed her opinions she neared the half-century mark....."

I like the style and story of Things Remembered so much, I pick up two other books by the author; Another Summer and The Beach House (love both covers!).

Meet the Author:  Georgia Bockoven is an award-winning author who began writing fiction after a successful career as a freelance journalist and photographer. Her books have sold more than four million copies worldwide. The mother of two, she resides in Northern California with her husband, John.

You can connect with Georgia on her website and Facebook.

Purchase It:  You can purchase Things Remembered on-line at Amazon for $14.99 ($10.72 Amazon Prime or $8.00 Kindle version).

Make sure you check out all other reviews on the TLC Book Tour:

Wednesday, October 17th: The Crazy Life of a Bookaholic Mom

Friday, October 19th: As I turn the pages

Monday, October 22nd: Peppermint PhD

Tuesday, October 23rd: Kritters Ramblings

Wednesday, October 24th: StephTheBookworm

Thursday, October 25th: Seaside Book Nook

Friday, October 26th: WV Sticher

Tuesday, October 30th: Library of Clean Reads

Wednesday, October 31st: A Patchwork of Books

Thursday, November 1st: Me, My Book and the Couch

Tuesday, November 6th: Kahakai Kitchen

Wednesday, November 7th: Peeking Between the Pages

TBD: Iwriteinbooks’s blog

Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Married TLC Book Tours

Synopsis:  Sometimes tying the knot just means getting strangled.....

Not too long ago, Jennifer Johnson was stuck in a cubicle, lovelorn and addicted to Cinnabon frosting. Now she's married to her Prince Charming—the handsome, wealthy son of a midwestern department-store magnate. But the grass on this too-manicured other side is not as green as she'd thought.

After a honeymoon from hell at a gated Christian resort in the Virgin Islands—bought and paid for by the in-laws and complete with alcohol-free drinks, curfews, and Satan-free yoga—Jennifer is beginning to have her doubts about the whole "happily-ever-after" thing. Soon she finds herself organizing Valentine's Day abstinence dances with her mother-in-law's church committee and dining with the ladies of the country club, who have their own theories about how to hold on to their men.

Is this really all there is to married life?

My Review:  First, I wish I had read the first book in this sequel, Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single.  Don't get me wrong, you don't have to read it.......I just think I would have really enjoyed it.  Chick lit books are my favorite and Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Married fits that genre to a "T!" I loved the sassiness of Jennifer, she just makes me laugh.  

The mother-in-law.....OMG.......I so couldn't handle an MIL like that.  An MIL picking the honeymoon location, no....buying the house next door, say it isn't so!  The MIL was just crazy!  Brad's family (Jennifer's husband) is very well off....and she doesn't have to work.  Her life becomes country club luncheons, chairing church committees, and BOREDOM.  I just loved the roller coaster ride I took with Jennifer during her earlier (very earlier) stage of marriage.

I seem to be in a reading "the second book in a sequence first" rut.  I have to keep going back and reading the first book - not because anything is missing, but because I love the story and author.  The Jennifer Johnson series is no different.  I hope Heather (author) is busy writing a third book right now!

Meet the Author:   Heather McElhatton produced the award-winning literary series Talking Volumes. Her commentaries have been heard on This American Life, Marketplace, Weekend America, Sound Money, and The Savvy Traveler. She lives in Key West with her pug, Walter.

Find Heather online at www.prettylittlemistakes.com, on facebook, and twitter!

Purchase It:  You can purchase Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Married on-line at Amazon for $14.99 ($10.98 Prime members and $8.89 Kindle version).

Be sure to check out the reviews on the TLC Book Tour:

Tuesday, October 9th: An Unconventional Librarian

Wednesday, October 10th: Kritters Ramblings

Thursday, October 11th: Silver & Grace

Monday, October 15th: Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Wednesday, October 17th: WV Stitcher

Thursday, October 18th: Drey’s Library

Tuesday, October 23rd: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, October 24th: Seaside Book Nook

Thursday, October 25th: Book Him Danno!

Tuesday, October 30th: girlichef

Wednesday, October 31st: Never Too Fond of Books

TBD: StephTheBookworm

The Emerald Talisman Book Blast

The Emerald Talisman Audio Book by Brenda Pandos  
Read by Mary Morgan

You can run from your destiny, but you can't hide.

If for no other reason than to help endure the hormonal rush of high school, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would trade her ability to feel her fellow students' emotions in a heartbeat, especially half the boys in class.

When the beguiling Nicholas uses his superhuman strength to rescue Julia from the edge of a cliff before she's devoured by a bloodthirsty stalker, Julia is suddenly thrust into an underground world where people and animals are often one and the same. Fellow high school students disappear and only Julia and Nicholas know the truth. While Nicholas, a vampire hunter, is out stopping the ever-growing coven, an old friend entices Julia to join him on the dark side and a psychic tells Julia she alone is the key to stopping the madness, problem is it'll require Nicholas' life. 

Amazon * Audible * Goodreads * Sample

Author Brenda Pandos:  

Brenda Pandos lives in California with her husband and two boys. She attempts to balance her busy life filled with writing, being a mother and wife, and spending time with friends and family. Working formerly as an I.T. Administrator, she never believed her imagination would be put to good use. After her son was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder her life completely changed. Writing paranormal romance became something she could do at home while tending to the new needs of her family, household, and herself.

Three years later, Brenda now has five books published, The Talisman Trilogy: The Emerald Talisman, The Sapphire Talisman, and The Onyx Talisman, and Mer Tales: Everblue and Evergreen. She is currently working on the third book of Mer Tales, Everlost, coming February 2013.

LINKS:

Website * Blog * Goodreads * Twitter * Facebook 


Audio Book Tour 

Readers are invited to participate in The Emerald Talisman blog tour from 10/26-11/23 hosted by Confessions of a Bookaholic. There will be giveaways, interviews and a scavenger hunt! 

Book Blast Giveaway Details:

$100 Amazon Gift Card or $100 PayPal Cash from Author Brenda Pandos

Ends 10/30/12
*You need not enter your twitter name for each entry.  Simply enter it when you follow Brenda and leave the others blank.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent's permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Valentina Goldman's Immaculate Confusion Book Blas/Tour

Title: Valentina Goldman's Immaculate Confusion
Author: Marisol Murano
Publisher: Hipso Media
Released: August 1, 2012

Since her arrival in the United States from Venezuela, Valentina Goldman isn’t exactly living the American Dream. She’s living the American Nightmare.

Her late husband, Max, has left her a young widow, a step-daughter whom Valentina didn’t want, and a bi-polar ex-wife. And oh, having given up her dream job in New York, Valentina is also unemployed in Arizona.

Part "Bridget Jones Diary," part "Modern Family," "Valentina Goldman’s Immaculate Confusion" is the story of a woman trying to get a handle on her whacky life in America. In breathless, blog-like snippets, Valentina compares her own story with that of her eccentric sister, Azucena, who has bizarre troubles of her own down in the tropics.

"Valentina Goldman’s Immaculate Confusion" is a funny and moving story about what happens when a passionate South American woman moves to the USA and, like so many of us, ends up with a life she never imagined.


Praise:
"A funny and quirky mix of anecdotes and life lessons. This is imbued with such a distinct personality -- one that begs you to laugh at nearly every page."
~ Emily from Goodreads


Amazon:

About Author Marisol Murano

When she was 18-years-old Marisol Murano moved to the United States to attend school so that afterwards she could return to her native Venezuela to get married and have kids. None of this happened. Instead, she ended up getting a Master’s degree which eventually landed her a boring job in an exciting city: New York.

After a few years running the corporate rat race, Marisol woke up to this one day, "Even if you win the race, you're still a rat." That was the end of her banking career and the birth of her first novel: The Lady, The Chef, and The Courtesan.

Marisol was the first to be surprised when her first novel was named Latino Book of the Year, Original Voices from Border’s and was picked as a BookSense selection. She was further surprised when it was translated into several languages.

A second career detour led her to become a chef and the author of a cookbook, Deliciously Doable Small Plates from Around the World. Between novels, Chef Marisol now travels the world conducting culinary demonstrations on exotic cuisine. In fact, Valentina Goldman's Immaculate Confusion was born at sea in a split-second of confusion when during a culinary demonstration a woman raised her hand to ask: “Did you always know you wanted to be a chef?”

Life is stranger than fiction, indeed.

Hipso Media Blog * Facebook * Goodreads

Book Blast Giveaway:
$100 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash from Hipso Media
Ends 10/25/12


Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent's permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lola's Secret - TLC Book Tours and Giveaway

Synopsis: At the Valley View Motel in South Australia's picturesque Clare Valley, eighty-four-year-old Lola Quinlan is up to her usual mischief. She's sent her family away for Christmas and invited a number of mystery guests to come and stay. But who are all these people, and why aren't they spending the festive season with their own loved ones? 

As the big day draws closer and Lola's personal family dramas threaten to unravel her plans, she discovers that at a special time of year, magic can happen in every family – especially your own. 

A funny and sad and moving novel about the very meaning of life, Lola's Secret has touched the hearts of women the world over.

My Review:  I LOVED Lola's character.  She was a hoot.  How thrilling it would be to live such a full life at her age! I can't help but laugh at her internet/sales/advertising savvy, not to mention her plotting and planning everyone's Christmas.  

Lola wants her family to take a much needed break from the Valley View Motel and its business.  She encourages them all to go away for Christmas.  She won't be alone after all, the Motel will be filled with guests.  As Christmas approaches, there are no guests registers.  Lola's quick thinking takes care of that.  Now that the Motel has special guests coming for Christmas, Lola sets out to make it a very special one for each and every guest.  

Is Lola able to pull her secret off, or not?  Without giving anything away, you will need to read Lola's Secret find out!

Lola's Secret is filled with humor, family drama, great characters, and lots of entertainment! If you are looking for a fast, great read to start kick off the holiday season, I recommend you pick up Lola's Secret!

What I didn't know was Lola's Secret is a sequel to The Alphabet Sisters (which got great reviews).  You don't need to read The Alphabet Sisters first, but it has been suggested.  I just picked up The Alphabet Sisters at my local bookstore.  More of Lola....how exciting!

Meet the Author:  Monica McInerney grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley wine region of South Australia. She has lived all around Australia and in Ireland and England. Her novels are bestsellers in Australia and Ireland and are published in translation in Europe. 

Those Faraday Girls won the General Fiction Book of the Year in 2008 in Australia. Her mot recent book, At Home With The Templetons was shortlisted at the 2010 Irish Book Awards in the Eason Popular Book of the Year category. 

She now lives in Dublin with her husband.  You can find Monica at her website and on Facebook.

Purchase it:  You can purchase Lola's Secret on-line at Amazon for $15.00 ($10.20 for Prime members or $9.99 Kindle version).

Other covers:  I found these other covers....I have to say, I love these better than the latest one.  

Giveaway:  I am so excited to be able to host a giveaway.  All you have to do is leave a comment with our email, letting me know if you are ready for the holiday season to start?

Contest ends October 24th at midnight (EST).  Good Luck.

Check out other reviews on the TLC Book Tours:

Monday, October 15th:  Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Wednesday, October 17th:  Seaside Book Nook

Thursday, October 18th:  Mom in Love with Fiction

Monday, October 22nd:  BookNAround

Wednesday, October 24th:  Silver & Grace

Thursday, October 25th:  Books in the City

Monday, October 29th:  Peppermint Ph.D.

Tuesday, October 30th:  Reviews from the Heart

Thursday, November 1st:  Colloquium

Monday, November 5th:  A Chick Who Reads

Tuesday, November 6th:  Bookfoolery and Babble

Wednesday, November 7th:  Amused by Books

Thursday, November 8th:  Suko’s Notebook

Monday, November 12th:  Fiction State of Mind

Wednesday, November 14th:  Life in Review

Friday, November 16th:  Books and Movies