TELL ME THREE THINGS by Julie Buxbaum

November 22, 2016November 19, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I grabbed this YA title as it was on sale for kindle, and I was so thrilled with it that I bought it (in hardcover!) for my teen daughter.

Here’s the overview from GoodReads:

Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

Julie Buxbaum mixes comedy and tragedy, love and loss, pain and elation, in her debut YA novel filled with characters who will come to feel like friends.

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I had never read anything by Julie Buxbaum and this is her first YA book, but I can hardly express what a treasure it is! I loved the characters, I loved the storyline, I loved the writing. I could not put it down and welcomed my insomnia so that I could continue reading during the night.

Poor Jessie is dealing with so much — her mother’s death, being new at school, moving from a “typical” Midwestern place to a wealthy part of LA, and being part of a new “step-family”. I think most teens can relate to at least one of these things.

I got it for my 13 year old, and had to ponder this as it is really geared to high school and up (some sexual content/discussion), but she is reading it now and loving it.

Highly Recommended!

FAITHFUL by Alice Hoffman

November 9, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

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I always love Alice Hoffman’s writing and this new novel was no exception.

Description

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and The Dovekeepers comes a soul-searching story about a young woman struggling to redefine herself and the power of love, family, and fate.

Growing up on Long Island, Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl until one night an extraordinary tragedy changes her fate. Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt.

What happens when a life is turned inside out? When love is something so distant it may as well be a star in the sky? Faithful is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion—from dark suffering to true happiness—a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. A fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookstores, and men she should stay away from, Shelby has to fight her way back to her own future. In New York City she finds a circle of lost and found souls—including an angel who’s been watching over her ever since that fateful icy night.

Here is a character you will fall in love with, so believable and real and endearing, that she captures both the ache of loneliness and the joy of finding yourself at last. For anyone who’s ever been a hurt teenager, for every mother of a daughter who has lost her way, Faithful is a roadmap.

Alice Hoffman’s “trademark alchemy” (USA TODAY) and her ability to write about the “delicate balance between the everyday world and the extraordinary” (WBUR) make this an unforgettable story. With beautifully crafted prose, Alice Hoffman spins hope from heartbreak in this profoundly moving novel.

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This is a touching and unforgettable story; beautifully written and hard to put down.

Thank you for my review e-copy!

MONSOON SUMMER by Julia Gregson

October 8, 2016October 8, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

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I just loved this wonderful historical fiction novel about a young British woman and her Indian doctor husband, post WWII, as they return to India for her to work as a midwife.

There were so many different layers in this story, about culture, family, traditions. Beautifully written, with evocative descriptions of an amazing country, it is one to keep!

Thank you for my review e-copy, Net Galley!

Here’s the overview:

By the award-winning author of East of the Sun, an epic love story moving from England to India, about the forbidden love between a young Indian doctor and an English midwife.

Oxfordshire, 1947. Kit Smallwood, hiding a painful secret and exhausted from nursing soldiers during the Second World War, escapes to Wickam Farm where her friend is setting up a charity sending midwives to the Moonstone Home in South India.

Then Kit meets Anto, an Indian doctor finishing his medical training at Oxford. But Kit’s light skinned mother is in fact Anglo-Indian with secrets of her own, and Anto is everything she does not want for her daughter.

Despite the threat of estrangement, Kit is excited for the future, hungry for adventure, and deeply in love. She and Anto secretly marry and set off for South India—where Kit plans to run the maternity hospital she’s helped from afar.

But Kit’s life in India does not turn out as she imagined. Anto’s large, traditional family wanted him to marry an Indian bride and find it hard to accept Kit. Their relationship under immense strain, Kit’s job is also fraught with tension as they both face a newly independent India, where riots have left millions dead and there is deep-rooted suspicion of the English. In a rapidly changing world, Kit’s naiveté is to land her in a frightening and dangerous situation…

Based on true accounts of European midwives in India, Monsoon Summer is a powerful story of secrets, the nature of home, the comforts and frustrations of family, and how far we’ll go to be with those we love.

THE TEA PLANTER’S WIFE by Dinah Jefferies

September 24, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I had heard good things about this book, so I was thrilled to recently receive it through Net Galley. It is historical fiction set in Ceylon – now known as Sri Lanka.

Description

#1 International bestselling novel set in 1920s Ceylon, about a young Englishwoman who marries a charming tea plantation owner and widower, only to discover he’s keeping terrible secrets about his past, including what happened to his first wife, that lead to devastating consequences

This novel had wonderful suspense and intrigue that felt almost Gothic in nature. Poor Gwen came in to a family that was hiding many secrets, most of which were tied into emotions and emotional betrayals. At times I started to suspect that her husband was up to no good; then I suspected her feckless sister-in-law. I did like Gwen’s character. She started out so naive and trusting and “simple”, and then, through the circumstances she faced, she became quite strong and reliable. I have to say, though, that I think that I would not have made the choices she did.

I loved reading about Ceylon and this period in history. The country sounds amazingly beautiful, too!

Recommended to those who enjoy historical fiction. Thank you for my e-copy!

Woo-hoo! I love a You Tube book trailer!!

https://youtu.be/jCesbML58O4

WHAT SHE KNEW by Gilly Macmillan

September 18, 2016September 17, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

You all know that I can’t stay away from these suspense novels! Here’s another one that I recently found on sale on Amazon for my kindle:

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In her enthralling debut, Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller as gripping and skillful as The Girl on the Train and The Guilty One.

In a heartbeat, everything changes…

Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.

Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.

As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.

Where is Ben? The clock is ticking…

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Yep – it was another “read all night until it’s over” event. I have to say that I thought this novel did an excellent job portraying how this poor woman was vilified on social media after her son went missing. Everyone is an expert these days and no one waits to throw the first stone.

Pick it up and enjoy it!

I LET YOU GO by Clare Mackintosh

September 17, 2016September 17, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

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I grabbed this off Amazon a few weeks ago when it was on sale. I was late to the party on this one, but many of my friends loved it and said it was suspenseful (sounded good to me!).

Here’s the Amazon overview:

The next blockbuster thriller for those who loved The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl... “a finely crafted novel with a killer twist.” (Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of The Girl on the Train)

On a rainy afternoon, a mother’s life is shattered as her son slips from her grip and runs into the street . . .

I Let You Go follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past.

At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them. Elizabeth Haynes, author of Into the Darkest Corner, says, “I read I Let You Go in two sittings; it made me cry (at least twice), made me gasp out loud (once), and above all made me wish I’d written it . . . a stellar achievement.”

*Peter James, author of Want You Dead
From the Hardcover edition.

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Couldn’t. Stop. Reading.

I really enjoyed this book. Poor Jenna – I felt for her and could understand why she would want to just disappear into the countryside! I can’t say too much without giving it all away, but if you enjoy books like Girl on the Train, etc. you would probably enjoy this one! I hope they make this into a movie.

Litfuse Publicity Tour for GOD BLESS US EVERYONE by Eva Marie Everson

September 13, 2016September 10, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

Today I’m taking part in the Litfuse blog tour for Eva Marie Everson’s new novel: GOD BLESS US EVERYONE. This is a title I’d classify as Christian romance. Here’s the overview:

About the book:

Charlene Dixon—called Charlie by family and friends—is devastated at the recent loss of her job.

For the last five years, the twenty-seven-year-old has blossomed as the activities director of an exclusive all-girls school. But when a misunderstanding with the headmistress leads to a pink slip right before the holidays, Charlie packs up her dreams and returns to her grandmother, Sis, who raised Charlie as her own in the mountains of North Carolina.

When Charlie arrives—broken and confused—Sis immediately puts her granddaughter to work behind the scenes of the local school’s Christmas play, A Christmas Carol. Charlie prickles at working with Dustin Kennedy, the drama teacher and her old crush from schooldays, but is even more put out at that the choice of the Dickens’ classic for the holiday performance. When she discovers her estranged father’s involvement her world turns on its head once more. But when Sis and Dustin encourage her to take a deeper look at the story behind A Christmas Carol, Charlie learns about trust, faith, and forgiveness and the needs of people in their own community.

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/2bUfaqD

About the author:

Eva Marie Everson is an award-winning speaker and author of The Road to Testament,Things Left Unspoken, This Fine Life, Chasing Sunsets, Waiting for Sunrise, Slow Moon Rising, and The Potluck Club series (with Linda Evans Shepherd). She is the president of Word Weavers International, Inc., a member of AWSA, ACFW, RWA, the director of Florida Christian Writer’s Conference, and the contest director for Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. She and her husband make their home in Casselberry, Florida.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

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This was my first novel by Ms. Everson. It read quickly and easily (in one day) and I enjoyed the plot and storyline. I did have a slight challenge accepting Charlie’s reason for termination at her job (probably because I work in a similar setting!), but that was just a way to get the story rolling. Of course I wanted Charlie and Dusty to get together, and I always enjoy a Christmas theme and one that encompasses forgiveness. One clever aspect of this story was the way that sections of the original A Christmas Carol started off each chapter and were tied in to the plot.

If you enjoy Christian romances, then you should pick up this one for the holidays!

Thank you for my review e-copy and for making me part of the tour!

A DARKER SKY by Mari Jungstedt and Ruben Eliassen

September 11, 2016September 11, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I love Mari Jungstedt’s writing, and was thrilled to find this title on Net Galley. Swedish crime is a genre I’ve come to rely on for well-plotted mysteries with multi-dimensional characters.

Here’s the overview:

Murder is killing the mood at a yoga tourist destination.

As dawn breaks on the Canary Islands, a fishing boat discovers a woman lying dead on the rocks nearby, her body arranged like a piece of art. To solve the case, Chief Inspector Diego Quintana gets unexpected help from Swedish journalist Sara Moberg, who runs the Scandinavian newspaper on the island, as well as from handsome former investigator Kristian Wede. But not even that can stop the killer from striking again.

As the death toll rises, the mood darkens, and Sara and Kristian race to find the killer before another tourist falls prey. But who is the culprit—an island local with a grudge against the tourists, a visitor on the run from trouble in her home country, the womanizing local yoga instructor, or the person they least suspect?

A Note From the Publisher

Bestselling author Mari Jungstedt and award-winning author Ruben Eliassen are the duo behind the dark and dramatic Canary Islands Series. Jungstedt is one of Sweden’s most beloved authors. She has published twelve books in her popular Gotland series, which is available in more than twenty countries and has been filmed for German television. Eliassen has published seven books in the award-winning Phenomena series, whose movie rights have been sold to an American film company.

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Yep, I couldn’t put it down.

Make a movie of this, please! (Preferably via the BBC so the acting will be stellar).

If you like crime novels, check out this title. Thanks for my e-copy!

ONCE IN A TOWN CALLED MOTH by Trilby Kent

September 10, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

If you know me, you know that Trilby Kent once, many years ago, was a student at the school in which I taught. She has grown into a gifted and versatile writer and I love every novel she crafts. You can imagine my joy when I found “Once in a Town Called Moth” on Net Galley.

I never know what theme or topic Trilby may choose to address, but I always know that I will be drawn in by it. Here’s the overview from NG:

Description

Ana is not your typical teenager. She grew up in a tiny Mennonite colony in Bolivia, and her mother fled the colony when Ana was a young girl. Now Ana and her father have also fled, and Ana doesn’t know why. She only knows that something was amiss in their tight-knit community. Arriving in Toronto, Ana has to fend for herself in this alien environment, completely isolated in a big city with no help and no idea where to even begin. But begin she does: she makes a friend, then two. She goes to school and tries to understand the myriad unspoken codes and rules. She is befriended by a teacher. She goes to the library, the mall, parties. And all the while, she searches for the mother who left so long ago, and tries to understand her father — also a stranger in a strange land, with secrets of his own.
This is a beautifully told story that will resonate with readers who have struggled with being new and unsure in a strange place, even if that place is in a classroom full of people they know. Ana’s story is unique but universal; strange but familiar; extraordinary but ordinary: a fish out of water tale that speaks to us all

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Once again Trilby has created an unforgettable set of characters and told their story to us with her lyrical prose. Trilby is able to convey mood and emotion through the smallest of details, painting a picture for the reader that stays indelibly in mind.

I only wished that this story did not have to end!

Pick up a copy of ONCE IN TOWN CALLED MOTH – you won’t be disappointed.

THE VELVET HOURS by Alyson Richman

September 7, 2016September 7, 2016 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I had heard about this novel and wanted to read it, so I was quite thrilled to be able to get it from the publicist through Net Galley. (Thank you!!).

You all know that I LOVE WWII fiction, and when I read that this story involved an untouched apartment and a family changed by war, I knew I was hooked. Here’s the overview:

Description (via Net Galley)

As Paris teeters on the edge of the German occupation, a young French woman closes the door to her late grandmother’s treasure-filled apartment, unsure if she’ll ever return.

An elusive courtesan, Marthe de Florian cultivated a life of art and beauty, casting out all recollections of her impoverished childhood in the dark alleys of Montmartre. With Europe on the brink of war, she shares her story with her granddaughter Solange Beaugiron, using her prized possessions to reveal her innermost secrets. Most striking of all are a beautiful string of pearls and a magnificent portrait of Marthe painted by the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini. As Marthe’s tale unfolds, like velvet itself, stitched with its own shadow and light, it helps to guide Solange on her own path.

Inspired by the true account of an abandoned Parisian apartment, Alyson Richman brings to life Solange, the young woman forced to leave her fabled grandmother’s legacy behind to save all that she loved.

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This was a fantastic tale, beautifully told, of a time that is past. Marthe’s life as a reclusive courtesan (a bit of an oxymoron, yes?) was fascinating, especially when you think that this story is based on fact. I love how the apartment was traced through time and paralleled Solange’s story.

Here’s a fascinating post by Ms. Richman on how she came to be inspired to write THE VELVET HOURS: http://www.signature-reads.com/2016/09/paris-dispatch-the-intersection-of-novel-writing-and-research/

I loved this book so much that I ran right out and got another by Ms. Richman. Her writing flows beautifully and is wonderfully evocative of another time and place.

Highly recommended!