Review: 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino + Giveaway

Posted on August 11, 2014August 10, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, audiobook
Genre: women’s fiction
Length: 274 pages
Publisher: Crown
Date Released: August 5, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Madeleine Altimari is a smart-mouthed, rebellious nine-year-old who also happens to be an aspiring jazz singer. Still mourning the recent death of her mother, and caring for her grief-stricken father, she doesn’t realize that on the eve of Christmas Eve she is about to have the most extraordinary day—and night—of her life. After bravely facing down mean-spirited classmates and rejection at school, Madeleine doggedly searches for Philadelphia’s legendary jazz club The Cat’s Pajamas, where she’s determined to make her on-stage debut. On the same day, her fifth grade teacher Sarina Greene, who’s just moved back to Philly after a divorce, is nervously looking forward to a dinner party that will reunite her with an old high school crush, afraid to hope that sparks might fly again. And across town at The Cat’s Pajamas, club owner Lorca discovers that his beloved haunt may have to close forever, unless someone can find a way to quickly raise the $30,000 that would save it.

As these three lost souls search for love, music and hope on the snow-covered streets of Philadelphia, together they will discover life’s endless possibilities over the course of one magical night. A vivacious, charming and moving debut, 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas will capture your heart and have you laughing out loud.

My Review:

2 A.M. at the Cat’s Pajamas contains an interesting trio of contemporary stories that feels like there’s a touch of magical realism or fantasy mixed in with some very gritty problems. It’s also possible that it contains just a bit of Christmas magic, taking place as it does just a day before Christmas Eve.

In this story, Christmas Eve Eve becomes a special day with a magic all of its own.

Three stories, all centered around a jazz club that used to be absolutely legendary. But The Cat’s Pajamas has fallen on hard times, as has its owner. While it used to be the best club in Philly, now its just hours away from being closed due to multiple violations of the city code.

Not the health code, but much more damning things. The house band is living in the club, and it definitely isn’t zoned that way. One guy has made his bedroom in the old walk-in freezer. That gave me the shivers on a hot August day.

All the band members, and the owner, are just one drink, or fix, or code violation, from living on the streets. There’s been way too much bad luck to go around.

The club’s other problems are that they can’t manage to shut themselves down at 2 am, and they can’t seem to keep underage musicians from trying out with the band. Including Tony Lorca, the owner’s son.

Lorca Sr. wants a better life for his kid than chasing music and bars to play in. But Tony is already on the slippery slope to addiction, and only music has a chance of saving him.

Sarina Greene finds herself at the Cat’s Pajamas with the one man she never got over, on a magical night that is almost, but not quite, a date. Because he’s still married to someone else.

Last and most important, Madeleine Altimari doesn’t merely want, she actually needs to become a jazz singer. A great jazz singer. It is her only real escape from her mother’s death, her father’s all-encompassing depression, and her need to follow the box of instructions for life that her mother left her.

And she knows that she can make her debut at The Cat’s Pajamas.

There’s one little problem. Madeleine and her very big and marvelous voice, is only 9 years old. She needs a little magic, and a whole lot of sneaking around to make her splash. And help The Cat’s Pajamas’ go out with a really big jazz bang.

Escape Rating B: This is a story that takes a while for its disparate threads to come together. Madeleine grabs the reader’s heart from the very beginning, she is loud, brash, foul-mouthed and very smart in some ways, while completely naive in others. The more her father sinks into despair, the further out Madeleine gets in bravado. She’s covering up just how bad things are, because she knows they can always get worse. A hard lesson for a nine-year old. Her aggressiveness is all defense, and everyone knows it but Madeleine herself.

Her voice is very real magic. Not just because it’s big and utterly fantastic, but because magical things happen when she sings. Her ambition is quite real, even though the effects tip into fantasy.

Sabrina Greene’s story is easy to sympathise with. The man she has loved since high school really does love her back. But he keeps following bad instincts or terrible advice and never manages to tell her how he feels. They’ve been dancing towards each other for years, but never quite get there. It’s sad but so, so real.

Lorca’s story is the one that doesn’t quite gel. The situation with The Cat’s Pajamas has been steadily trending downhill for years, but we don’t get quite enough of Lorca’s perspective, or the sad decline of the “boys in the band” to really understand how he got into the fix he’s in.

But Madeleine’s story carries the book. She schemes, she connives, she stalks people in order to make her dream come true. And when it does, she gives everyone just a bit of magic.

GIVEAWAY

Marie-Helene is generously giving away a hardcover copy of 2 A.M. at the Cat’s Pajamas to one lucky winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is part of a TLC book tour. Click on the logo for more reviews.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Virtues of Oxygen by Susan Schoenberger + Giveaway

Posted on July 30, 2014July 29, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, paperback, audiobook
Genre: Women’s fiction
Length: 243 pages
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Date Released: July 22, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Holly is a young widow with two kids living in a ramshackle house in the same small town where she grew up wealthy. Now barely able to make ends meet editing the town’s struggling newspaper, she manages to stay afloat with help from her family. Then her mother suffers a stroke, and Holly’s world begins to completely fall apart.

Vivian has lived an extraordinary life, despite the fact that she has been confined to an iron lung since contracting polio as a child. Her condition means she requires constant monitoring, and the close-knit community joins together to give her care and help keep her alive. As their town buckles under the weight of the Great Recession, Holly and Vivian, two very different women both touched by pain, forge an unlikely alliance that may just offer each an unexpected salvation.

My Review:

The Virtues of Oxygen is the story of two women (and a town) who are all having difficulty with something that is critical to survival.

It’s not that Holly started out life somewhere in the upper-middle class and feels deprived because her standard of living has steadily fallen throughout her adult life–it’s that she’s 42, widowed young, with two sons and a job in a dying industry (journalism) in a small town that has been losing economic ground for decades.

She works hard and she does her best, but she’s going to lose her house. And her little weekly newspaper is about to fold, taking her job with it.

Then her mother has a severe stroke and she and her siblings have to face even more bitter truths. Their mother survived, but she will never get better. The woman they knew is gone.

And everything that their parents saved in their life together will have to go to taking care of the body that no longer houses their mother.

Holly says that money is like oxygen, and she just doesn’t have enough. but Holly’s friend Vivian really doesn’t have enough actual oxygen. Ever.

Vivian is 65, and she contracted polio when she was 6–three years before the Salk vaccine. For the past 59 years, Vivian has lived her entire life in an iron lung. She can’t breathe without it’s constant assistance.

She has managed to make a life for herself. Computers and the internet opened up a vast array of outside contacts for her. She invested her money wisely, (she’s very good at it) and has mostly done ok by financial standards.

But she is tired of everything. As her series of podcasts reveals, she has lived her life as best as she could, but she has reached enough. The problem is that someone is, of necessity, always taking care of her, and ensuring that her life-giving machines never lose power.

When Holly finally runs out of choices, Vivian takes her and her boys into her home. Holly’s family gives Vivian one last chance to experience life in a busy and happy household. Holly’s family gives her purpose.

They also give her one last chance to pass the benefits of her life, hopefully without the disadvantages, to a friend she cares for, and the town that has cared for her.

Escape Rating B+: The Virtues of Oxygen is a story that builds slowly, but involves the reader with all the aspects of both of its protagonists lives. This is not a story where dramatic action would be appropriate, instead it weaves its spell by deepening the reader’s understanding of the difficulties faced by all the characters.

Vivian is simply an awesome character. From the first of her “unaired podcasts” Vivian’s personality roars off the page. Her experience is so much broader than the horizons of her iron-lung bound life might have been. For someone who starts out extraordinarily unlucky, she makes the absolute most of what she has. Until she exhausts herself in a way that is as understandable as possible in circumstances that none of us can compare to.

Vivian has managed to make herself the personal and economic center of little Bertram Corners, binding the town together in caring for her in a way that helps the town as much as it assists her. It’s obvious from the story that it took Vivian a while, but she finally figured out how to give back to her caregivers and her community in a really big way.

Holly’s life keeps going from bad to worse, and she keeps on putting one foot in front of the other, but she’s just not able to dig out of the hole she’s in. Because she doesn’t have any reserves, she can’t manage to help herself make money. Everything that comes in is eaten up by daily life; the mortgage, utilities, keeping both sons clothed and fed, trying to keep their lives from being a complete drag as the house gets more dilapidated.

Her life has never recovered from the absurdly young death of her husband. No one expects to die in their early 30’s, with so much of their promise unfulfilled.

The town is slowly dying, and into this economic bust Vivian brings a storefront cash-for-gold store. The presence of the store, and it’s city-wise manager Racine brings a boost to the downtown area, and possibly even a boost to Holly’s life. She just can’t figure out what his game is or whether he has one.

For a character who changes so much from the beginning of the story to the end, we don’t see as much of Racine’s perspective as might have been helpful. The Virtues of Oxygen is totally Vivian’s and Holly’s stories.

GIVEAWAY

Susan is graciously giving away a paperback copy of The Virtues of Oxygen to one lucky U.S commenter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post is part of a TLC book tour. Click on the logo for more reviews.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Here’s Looking at You by Mhairi McFarlane

Posted on June 16, 2014June 22, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by Edelweiss
Formats available: ebook, paperback, audiobook
Genre: Women’s fiction
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Avon
Date Released: June 3, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Anna Alessi – history expert, possessor of a lot of hair and an occasionally filthy mouth – seeks nice man for intelligent conversation and Harlequin romance moments.

Despite the oddballs that keep turning up on her dates, Anna couldn’t be happier. As a 30-something with a job she loves, life has turned out better than she dared dream. However, things weren’t always this way, and her years spent as the butt of schoolyard jokes are ones she’d rather forget.

So when James Fraser – the architect of Anna’s final humiliation at school – walks back into her life, her world is turned upside down. But James seems a changed man. Polite. Mature. Funny, even. People can change, right? So why does Anna feel like she’s a fool to trust him?

My Review:

Here’s Looking at You is a combination of ugly duckling story mixed with “handsome is as handsome does”. There’s also a bit of “beauty may be skin deep, but ugly goes clean through to the bone.”

And none of us are who we were in high school, and thank goodness for that.

Anna was the school “fat freak” (I’m quoting the story here, and some of what is said is MUCH worse). The bullying she suffered was beyond awful, to the point where it reminded me of the bullying scenes in Carrie. Anna was tormented by every student who was considered to be above her in the social pecking order, and that meant by every single student. The final humiliation that she suffered was utterly heartbreaking in its cruelty.

Even 16 years later, Anna’s self-esteem is still scarred by her experiences. And so would most of us be. Even though she has lost the weight that set her apart, and is now a beautiful woman, she can’t see it. (I’m also glad that Anna seems to be a normal size, and not a stick-figure 0 or 2.)

She also puts her passion into her work as a curator at the British Museum. She’s intelligent and successful. She also has a slightly obsessive interest in the Empress Theodosia, an interest that is about to become a major exhibit under her direction. (Theodosia and her husband Justinian are definitely fascinating historical characters. There are tons of books about them.)

Anna’s 16th reunion nearly derails her. She doesn’t want to face the people who tormented her. Her best friends think that its time she found some closure for the pain in her past.

The person she’s really afraid to meet is James Fraser, her high school crush and the cause of her bitterest humiliation. But when she finally screws up her courage and attends the reunion, James doesn’t even recognize her–and neither does anybody else.

She thinks its all behind her, when James and his PR firm are assigned to work on her museum exhibit. He doesn’t have a clue who she is and why she gives him so much snarkitude, but she can’t forget the part he played in her life.

There’s just this one problem with continuing her verbal sniping at James; he’s actually pretty sweet, and they are very sympatico. While she’s watching his every gesture to determine whether or not he recognizes her, they are well on their way to becoming friends.

For me that was the story. James and Anna develop a terrific friendship, one that may have some sexual chemistry underneath, but is mostly about how much fun they have together, and how easy they can both be their real selves.

The more time that James spends with the intelligent and witty Anna, the more he realizes that he hasn’t left the shallowness of high school, but that it is high time that he did. He doesn’t need more emptiness in his life; he just needs Anna.

Escape Rating B+: A lot of people are going to describe this story as chick-lit, but Anna, for all of her angst, is much too smart and self-aware for that. There’s an element of Bridget Jones’ Diary all grown up, but maybe only if James is Bridget.

Anna has some terrible anguish in her past that she needs to work through, but James just plain needs to grow up. He’s actually very sweet and thoughtful in a lot of ways, but he’s drifting through his life, and he’s better than that.

Anna is surrounded in the story by a terrific group of friends and family. Her friends and her sister are supportive of her no matter what she does or doesn’t, and she is there for them. The background events of her sister’s bridezilla wedding showcase how much love there is in her family, and the amount of tolerance for each other’s quirks. At the same time, sister Aggy comes through for Anna when it really counts.

James is the one who discovers that he’s making a mess of his life. His oldest friend is a self-serving dickwad, and his soon to be ex-wife is a manipulative user. It takes him most of the book, and a lot of true friendship with Anna, to figure out that he wants real friendship, real love, and less peer pressure and possessions. It’s a hard lesson.

I think my favorite character may be Luther the constipated cat. He provides love, extreme grumpiness and comic relief where needed.

This post is part of a TLC book tour. Click on the logo for more reviews.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s on my (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 5-25-14

Posted on May 25, 2014May 22, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Giveaways> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

For everyone in the U.S., I hope you’re having a terrific Memorial Day weekend! It feels like it has been forever since our last 3-day weekend, and it’s about six weeks to the next one.

This coming week I had a chance to review some books that I just wanted to do, and discovered that a week isn’t nearly long enough!

Review: Little Island by Katharine Britton + Giveaway

Posted on May 21, 2014May 20, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: paperback provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Genre: Women’s fiction
Length: 321 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Date Released: September 3, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Grace
Flowers
By the water
Have fun!

These are Joy’s grandmother’s last words—left behind on a note. A note that Joy’s mother, Grace, has interpreted as instructions for her memorial service. And so, the far-flung clan will gather at their inn on Little Island, Maine, to honor her.

Joy can’t help dreading the weekend. Twenty years ago, a tragedy nearly destroyed the family—and still defines them. Joy, Grace, her father Gar, and twins Roger and Tamar all have their parts to play. And now Joy, facing an empty nest and a nebulous future, feels more vulnerable than ever to the dangerous currents running through her family.

But this time, Joy will discover that there is more than pain and heartbreak that binds them together, when a few simple words lift the fog and reveal what truly matters…

My Review:

Little Island is a story about the corrosiveness of family secrets and the lies that people tell themselves (and each other) in order to hide their truth from the world, or from themselves.

The Little family seems like a happy family, at least on the surface. Grace and Gar have a solid marriage and a good life running a B&B on Little Island in Maine. Both their daughters are married, and have kids of their own. The younger daughter, Tamar, is a successful lawyer. But son Roger has always been the scapegrace of the family. He drinks too much, he does prescription drugs, and 20 years ago he killed a girl while drunk driving.

So maybe not quite an ideal family, but not too bad. They’ve all moved past Roger’s accident; he did his time long ago.

All is not as it seems. Their older daughter, Joy, has just sent her son off to college and can’t see a future for herself or her marriage without her son as the glue. Tamar’s marriage is falling apart, because she’s been too busy working (and micro-judging everyone in her path) to maintain a bond with her husband or have much knowledge of her twin daughters. Gar is starting to forget things. And Grace’s mother just died, and in the wake of that event, her long-lost aunts got in touch with her. Grace didn’t even know her mother had sisters. Or a family.

And Roger is continuing to slide slowly downward, a little bit at a time.

But as the story unfolds, the perspective switches from Joy and Grace in the present to Joy and Tamar 20 years ago, the time of Roger’s terrible accident. As the past unravels, the family discovers that a lot more died on that awful night than one young woman. And the present holds more joy and hope than anyone first thought.

Salmon-picnicking bears are a great way to liven up a memorial service.

Escape Rating B: OK, that last sentence in the review was kind of a spoiler–but you have to read the book to get the joke. And it’s worth it.

Little Island is a story about family dynamics, particularly about the way that one single event, one secret, can echo down through the years and fracture the foundation. It’s not that they are all unhappy, in the sense of the quote about happy and unhappy families, it’s that they are all lost.

The relationship that is the most damaged, and gets the most attention in the story, is the relationship among the siblings, Joy, Roger and Tamar. Roger and Tamar are twins, and shared everything together, until they suddenly didn’t. But neither of them could quite move on from that one secret, and they were so dependent on each other that they couldn’t break away, either.

Joy, the older sister, was always left out of the twins tight little twosome. And Tamar was frequently cruel about making sure that she stayed out.

So it’s Joy’s perspective that we follow most in the story, because she’s always been an observer. She’s even on the outside of her own life, because she’s so conditioned to waiting in the wings.

The story starts out slowly, but picks up speed as more of the past is revealed, and we can see how that past continues to impact the present. There is also a thread about the impact of stories, particular the stories that families tell about themselves and each other, and the way that the expectations those narratives create continue to ripple throughout our lives.

This post is part of a TLC book tour. Click on the logo for more reviews.

GIVEAWAY

Katharine is giving away a paperback copy of Little Island to one lucky U.S. winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 4-13-14

Posted on April 13, 2014April 13, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Giveaways> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

This was a busy week at Reading Reality, and the upcoming week will be too. Especially since next weekend I’ll be at Norwescon for most of the weekend (YAY!)

I don’t know about the rest of you, but my procrastination has bitten me in the butt, and we have to do our taxes this weekend. Even though we know we’ll get a refund, we always wait until the last minute to do the damn thing. It’s hard to believe, but this is the first time in 3 years that we don’t have moving expenses to deduct. We actually managed to stay in one city for an entire calendar year.

For those who are in the same boat we are, good luck with the task. Thank goodness for efiling, the whole line up and wait at the post office thing used to be the perfect ending for a dreadful chore. I don’t miss it at ALL!

Current Giveaways:

The Last Time I Saw You by Eleanor Moran (print or ebook, US/CAN)
Black Chalk by Christopher J Yates (print or ebook, INT)
The Ophelia Prophecy by Sharon Lynn Fisher (print, US/CAN)
2 signed copies each of City of the Gods: The Descendant and City of the Gods: The Betrayal plus 5 ebook copies of the winner’s choice of Descendant or Betrayal from S.J. McMillan

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the $10 Gift card in the Fool for Books Giveaway Hop is Elaina W.
The winner of the paperback copy of Four Friends by Robyn Carr is Natasha D.
The winner of the paperback copy of Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins is Bridget H.
The winners of my Blogo-Birthday giveaways are Ann V., Joy F., and Brittany M.

Blog Recap:

B+ Review: The Time Traveler’s Boyfriend by Annabelle Costa + Giveaway
A- Review: The Last Time I Saw You by Eleanor Moran
Q&A with Author Eleanor Moran + Giveaway
B+ Review: Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates + Giveaway
B+ Review: The Ophelia Prophecy by Sharon Lynn Fisher
Interview with Author Sharon Lynn Fisher + Giveaway
B Review: City of the Gods: The Betrayal by S.J. McMillan + Giveaway
Stacking the Shelves (84)

Coming Next Week:

Trinity Stones by L.G. O’Connor (blog tour review)
Cress by Marissa Meyer (review)
Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes (blog tour review)
Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews (review)
Bite Me by P.J. Schnyder (review)

Q&A with Author Eleanor Moran + Giveaway

Posted on April 8, 2014April 7, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Author Q&A> blog tours> Book Giveaway> Giveaways

Today I would like to welcome Eleanor Moran, who will be publishing the heart-wrenching friendship (and other things) story, The Last Time I Saw You (review here) later this month. Although I didn’t know this when I picked up the book, in addition to the TV series listed in her bio, she has also executive produced one of my favorite series, New Tricks. I knew I liked her writing, and now I know why!

Q. What was your inspiration for The Last Time I Saw You? How did you first get the idea for the story?

A. The Last Time I Saw You came out of two experiences – a hypnotic, seductive friendship I had at university which exploded in my mid twenties. It took me a long time to process the viciousness of the ‘break up’ and I wanted to write about the ambiguity and treachery of female friendship gone wrong. I also wanted to write about the ‘haunting’ that can take place in relationships we have in our thirties and forties. Livvy’s sister tells her “men move on, they can’t stand the silence” and I think it’s true. I wanted to write about that.

Q. Do you have a favorite character from the book? One who was a pleasure to right? Difficult?

A. I love all my characters! I fell in love with William, despite him being such a stuffed shirt. I sort of have to when I write a love interest. I loved the complexity of Sally, and I loved her, despite her selfishness and how bad she was for Livvy. She is mercurial and a trickster, and in drama those characters are vital. She can do unexpected, wild things. Livvy has a lot of me in her, as all my heroines do.

Q. If you could give just one piece of advice to fellow writers what would it be?

A. Gosh, I wouldn’t presume to advise other writers at my stage, but to newbies I would say… Do you know, I don’t know! Understand the market, but don’t be handcuffed by it, as you need to find your own voice.

Q. Who are your favorite authors? Who has inspired your writing?

A. I adore Rebecca. Daphne Du Maurier found something universal, and then wrote a deeply specific story. Beautiful Ruins. Loved that. The Fault In Our Stars. The Help. Heartburn. The Time Traveler’s Wife. For me it’s the books about rounded, flawed characters doing their very best in believable ways. If you look at my website – I wrote about my 10 favorite love stories. And romantic films.

Q. What’s next? Are you working on your next book?

A. I am hard at work on book 5. It’s about a young female psychotherapist who is forced to confront her past.

Eleanor Moran, photographed by Charlie Hopkinson.

About Eleanor MoranEleanor Moran is the author of three previous novels: Stick or Twist, Mr Almost Right and Breakfast in Bed, which is currently being developed for television. Eleanor also works as a television drama executive and her TV credits include Rome, MI5, Spooks, Being Human and a biopic of Enid Blyton, Enid, starring Helena Bonham Carter. Eleanor grew up in North London, where she still lives.To learn more about Eleanor, visit her website or follow her on Twitter.

GIVEAWAY

Eleanor is kindly giving away a copy of The Last Time I Saw You to one lucky winner. To enter, use the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: The Last Time I Saw You by Eleanor Moran

Posted on April 8, 2014April 7, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook, large print, audiobook
Genre: literary fiction, women’s fiction
Length: 496 pages
Publisher: Quercus
Date Released: April 22, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

When Olivia Berrington gets the call to tell her that her best friend from college has been killed in a car crash in New York, her life is turned upside down. Her relationship with Sally was an exhilarating roller coaster, until a shocking betrayal drove them apart. But if Sally really had turned her back, why is her little girl named after Olivia?

As questions mount about the fatal accident, Olivia is forced to go back and unravel their tangled history. But as Sally’s secrets start to spill out, Olivia’s left asking herself if the past is best kept buried.

My Review:

Sally Atkins was a star who burned bright and hot, and then flamed out. But The Last Time I Saw You both is and isn’t Sally’s story, because Sally isn’t the “I” in that title, she’s the “you”. The story begins with her death, and goes both backwards and forwards in time; back into Olivia Berrington’s memories of their intense friendship at university, and forward into a future that continues without Sally in it.

This is Olivia’s story, and the story of everyone who lived and died in the reflected glow cast by Sally’s incandescence.

Sally’s bright light has gone out. The story begins with her death in an auto accident. Her survivors are left with questions about how, and why, and can they go on? Especially Olivia, who used to be so close to Sally, and for Sally’s husband William and daughter Madeleine. Their world has gotten immeasurably darker.

But also become considerably more even-keeled. When Sally was up, she was all the way up. When she was down, she was completely down. When she loved you, you were the only person in her world, and when you fell out of favor, you were cast into the pit of oblivion.

Sally was bipolar, and she never revealed what she perceived as her weakness to anyone. She always cast every moment of her life as though she was the star, and any others were supernumeraries. And for those who weren’t willing to be hangers on in her life, she lied and she played off one against another, until she emerged as someone else’s victim. In reality, everyone was her victim, including herself.

And even though this is Olivia’s story, it is impossible not to focus on Sally.

In the wake of Sally’s death, Olivia finds herself dredging through her memories at the request of Sally’s husband William. He’s looking for good things to hold onto, in order to keep alive a vision of the perfect Sally who never was. All that Olivia finds is the relationship that set the pattern for her life. A pattern of settling for scraps and hoping she can placate the person she has allowed to control her life and well-being, and a pattern that she finally realizes she must break for good.

Olivia searches for the truth about Sally, but in the end, she also finds out the truth about herself.

Escape Rating A-: I picked this story because of it’s theme of losing touch with people who used to be close friends, and the reasons that we let people go. It was a concept that resonated.

But what kept me enthralled was watching Olivia’s slow transformation, as she continues to learn from her relationship with Sally, and all the ways in which the intense insanity of that relationship continues to influence, even control. her life.

At first, I kept looking for one big betrayal to explain how Olivia and Sally lost touch, but as I kept following Olivia’s story, I came to realize that it was much more than that. It wasn’t a single event, but a pattern of betrayals over and over, and Olivia finally broke free. But only after she’d sacrificed a bit of her soul.

I felt for Olivia, the way that she kept repeating her pattern with Sally, much in the same way that a victim returns to their abuser, or recreates an abusive relationship. She kept trying to understand the other person, instead of figuring out that the person she needed to take care of was herself.

Although this is definitely not a romance, Olivia does find romance. I loved Olivia’s journey, but I’m not sure that the story needed to finish with a semi-traditional happy ending. Olivia figuring out who she needed to be would have been more than enough for me.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Four Friends by Robyn Carr + Giveaway

Posted on April 2, 2014April 1, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews> Giveaways

Format read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook, hardcover, audiobook
Genre: women’s fiction
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: March 25, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

Gerri can’t decide what’s more devastating: learning her rock-solid marriage has big cracks, or the anger she feels as she tries to repair the damage. Always the anchor for friends and her three angst-ridden teenagers, it’s time to look carefully at herself. The journey for Gerri and her family is more than revealing—it’s transforming.

Andy doesn’t have a great track record with men, and she’s come to believe that for her a lasting love is out of reach. When she finds herself attracted to her down-to-earth, ordinary contractor—a man without any of the qualities that usually appeal to her—she questions everything she thought she wanted in life.

Sonja’s lifelong pursuit of balance is shattered when her husband declares he’s through with her New Age nonsense and walks out. There’s no herbal tonic or cleansing ritual that can restore her serenity—or her sanity.

Miraculously, it’s BJ, the reserved newcomer to Mill Valley, who steps into their circle and changes everything. The woman with dark secrets opens up to her neighbors, and together they get each other back on track, stronger as individuals and unfaltering as friends.

My Review:

I really enjoyed Four Friends, I think because I identified with aspects of all of the characters. And I envied the strength of their friendship. But each of their stories had resonance for me. This is not a story where you get swept away on the tides of romance, Four Friends is a quiet story about women you would like to go out with for one of their early morning power walks.

This is a story about, obviously, four friends. But it’s also the story of four marriages, and the way that some of them bend, some of them break, and the women who are stronger for surviving the things that life has thrown at them.

At the beginning of the story, one woman seems to have it all, one woman is a new age flake, one is throwing out her latest boy toy husband, and one is a widow of mystery. Suddenly, as if Andy’s melodramatic breakup with her second husband the manchild is a catalyst, every woman’s relationship falls apart.

Gerri, who seems to have everything together and a perfect partner in her Phil, discovers that there must be something missing in her marriage that she never saw, because Phil had an affair five years ago, and she totally missed it. Now she feels betrayed and she is furious.

Sonja the new age practitioner, finds herself all alone, when her husband gets totally fed up with years of waterfalls and chakra balancing and totally bland meals and leaves. She never saw it coming, because she was so busy trying to do good for him that she never listened to him. Sonja has a psychotic break and descends in extreme clinical depression.

BJ, the widow of mystery, is the one who discovers that Sonja needs medical attention. After a year of keeping herself completely to herself, when she’s needed, she gets involved. From that involvement springs a friendship that uncovers the secret she’s been hiding.

And Andy gets involved with the man remodeling her kitchen, a sweet, gentle soul who is nothing like the hardbodied boy-men she has been attracted to all her life.

Every one of the women is in a different place, but the circumstances that they are in reflect versions of the reality of women’s lives in their 30’s and 40’s. Gerri misses the partnership she had with her husband, but doesn’t know how to move past, not merely the betrayal, but the fact that she didn’t know. It strikes both at her self-confidence and her trust. She can’t help blame herself that she didn’t listen, didn’t see that what was perfect for her was less than perfect for her husband. And he blames himself both for the affair and for not speaking up about what was missing. Meanwhile, their kids act out in their own less than successful attempts to cope.

As we see the world through Gerri’s eyes, we feel the depth of her friendships, and the confusion she’s experiencing as the construct of her world falls apart. Then we empathize as she begins tentative steps to rebuild amidst the chaos.

In each of the women’s stories, we see them reaching for a happy that will be right for them, even if in the cases of Sonja and BJ, that happiness is about learning to be strong in the broken places.

Escape Rating A: Four Friends is a character study of women and their relationships, particularly their relationships with each other. So the story passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors but doesn’t qualify as a romance. And that’s completely okay with me.

One woman finds love in an unexpected direction. Another discovers that she has a lot to learn if she wants to keep the love she has come to rely on. A third has to figure out how to stand on her own, and the fourth still has difficulty trusting even in friendship. But it’s the way they hold each other up, or pick each other up, that makes the story worth following.

True love is not the goal, but sometimes its the reward. True friendship sees them through. And you’ll cheer for each of them as they find their own paths.

GIVEAWAY

We’re giving away a paperback copy of Four Friends by Robyn Carr to one lucky (U.S.) winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Guest Post from Sheila Roberts about the REAL Icicle Falls + Giveaway

Posted on March 27, 2014March 25, 2014 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | blog tours> Giveaways

My special guest today is Sheila Roberts, the author of the Icicle Falls series, including today’s featured review book, The Cottage on Juniper Ridge. Because this series is so lovely, and the town of Icicle Falls seems like such a marvelous place, I wanted to learn more about it, especially since it is based on a town very near my current homebase of Seattle.

Here’s Sheila to tell us all about her Icicle Falls and the real-life version you can visit!

The Real Icicle Falls
by Sheila Roberts

Readers often tell me that they wish my town of Icicle Falls was a real place. Well, here’s the good news. It is! Well, at least it’s based on one.

My imaginary town of Icicle Falls is based on the town of Leavenworth, Washington, one of my favorite places to visit. Granted Leavenworth doesn’t have it’s own chocolate factory like Icicle Falls does (and it probably doesn’t have some of the squirelly characters, either), but it has the wonderful views, the friendly people and the great spirit of determination. And, just like in Icicle Falls, the people of Leavenworth sure know how to celebrate a holiday. One of my favorite times to visit is during Christmas when they have their town tree-lighting ceremony. (And yes, Icicle Falls has one, too!)

Leavenworth is a popular destination town with a healthy economy but it wasn’t always so. In the early sixties, after The Great Northern Railway pulled out, choosing a different route through the mountains, this town nestled in the Cascades was in danger of becoming a ghost town. But the town leaders put their heads together and decided that, with its beautiful mountain setting, Leavenworth could be as charming as any alpine village. And they set about transforming the town from a typical western town into something truly special. Everyone pulled together to make this happen. “And we did it all without any government help,” says one of the older residents. In this day and age that’s really something to brag about.

In addition to changing the look of their shops and stores, the people of Leavenworth came up with a series of festivals designed to draw visitors. Today these festivals bring in over a million visitors a year.

I love the fact that a little imagination coupled with determination and hard work of the townspeople literally transformed this place. It’s a charming town filled with wonderful people, and I try to convey a little of their town spirit in my Icicle Falls books. I hope my characters are people that readers will enjoy and want to spend time with.
And, if you ever visit Washington I hope you’ll stop by Leavnworth, stay in one of its charming B & B’s, enjoy the scenery and the shopping and the great people who live there. I hope you’ll visit Icicle Falls, too!

About Sheila Roberts

Sheila Roberts is married and has three children. She lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. Her novels have appeared in Readers Digest Condensed books and have been published in several languages. Her holiday perennial, On Strike for Christmas, was made into a movie for the Lifetime Movie Network and her her novel The Nine Lives of Christmas has been optioned for film. When she’s not writing songs, hanging out with her girlfriends or trying to beat her husband at tennis, she can be found writing about those things dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.

To learn more about Sheila, please visit her website or blog. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY

Sheila will be awarding a $25 B & N gift card and an eCopy of The Cottage on Juniper Ridge to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a $25 B & N gift card to a randomly drawn host.

To enter, leave a comment on this post. For more chances to win, follow the other stops on Sheila’s tour.

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