DNF Review: The Girl With The Louding Voice By Abi Dare

Publisher: Dutton

Format Read: E-Book
Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: February 4, 2020
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Google | Kobo
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education. This, her mother has told her, is the only way to get a “louding voice”—the ability to speak for herself and decide her own future. But instead, Adunni's father sells her to be the third wife of a local man who is eager for her to bear him a son and heir.

When Adunni runs away to the city, hoping to make a better life, she finds that the only other option before her is servitude to a wealthy family. As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless slave, Adunni is told, by words and deeds, that she is nothing.

But while misfortunes might muffle her voice for a time, they cannot mute it. And when she realizes that she must stand up not only for herself, but for other girls, for the ones who came before her and were lost, and for the next girls, who will inevitably follow; she finds the resolve to speak, however she can—in a whisper, in song, in broken English—until she is heard.

Guest Review of To Be Where You Are by Jan Karon

Series: Mitford Years #14
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 19th, 2017
Buying Links: Amazon*Book Depository* | iBooks* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon returns with the fourteenth novel in the beloved Mitford series, featuring three generations of Kavanaghs.

After twelve years of wrestling with the conflicts of retirement, Father Tim Kavanagh realizes he doesn't need a steady job to prove himself. Then he's given one--but what, exactly, does it prove? Meanwhile, newly married Dooley and Lace face a crisis that empties their bank account and turns their household upside down. Is the honeymoon over? Is this where real life begins?

As the Mitford Muse editor stumbles on a quick fix for marital woes and the town grocer falls in love for the first time, Father Tim and Cynthia receive an invitation to yet another family wedding.

But perhaps the bottom line is this: While a star blinks out in the Mitford firmament, another soon blinks on at Meadowgate, and four-year-old Jack Tyler looks forward to the biggest day of his life--for now and forever.

Jan Karon weaves together the everyday lives of two families, and the cast of characters that readers around the world now love like kin.

Bea Reviews Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer

Series: The Clifton Chronicles #6
Publisher: St.Martin's Press
Source: the library
Release Date: February 16th, 2016
Challenges: Finishing the Series Reading Challenge | I Love Libraries
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Cometh the Hour opens with the reading of a suicide note, which has devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, Giles Barrington and Lady Virginia.

Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics and try to rescue Karin, the woman he loves, from behind the Iron Curtain. But is Karin truly in love with him, or is she a spy?

Lady Virginia is facing bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to the hapless Cyrus T. Grant III from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who's in England to see his horse run at Royal Ascot.

Sebastian Clifton is now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank and a workaholic, whose personal life is thrown into disarray when he falls for Nadira, a beautiful Indian girl. But her parents have already chosen the man she is going to marry. Meanwhile, Sebastian's rivals Adrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor are still plotting to bring him and his chairman Hakim Bishara down, so they can take over Farthings.

Harry Clifton remains determined to get Anatoly Babakov released from a gulag in Siberia, following the international success of his acclaimed book, Uncle Joe. Harry's wife Emma convinces her new friend Margaret Thatcher to raise the subject with the Russian President when she visits Moscow. But then something unexpected happens that none of them could have anticipated.

Cometh the Hour is the penultimate book in the Clifton Chronicles and, like the five previous novels - all of which went to number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list - showcases Jeffrey Archer's extraordinary storytelling with his trademark twists.

Excerpt from Peregrine Island by Diane B. Saxton

Publisher: She Writes Press 
Release Date: August 2nd, 2016
Formats Available: Paperback, ebook
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Kobo | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.
Author Links: website | goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Blurb from Amazon:

The Peregrine family’s lives are turned upside down one summer when so-called “art experts” appear on the doorstep of their Connecticut island home to appraise a favorite heirloom painting. When incriminating papers, as well as other paintings, are discovered behind the artwork in question, the appraisal turns into a full-fledged investigation. Antagonism mounts between grandmother, mother, and child, who begin to suspect one another, as well as the shady newcomers in their midst, of foul play.


As the summer progresses and the Peregrines discover facts about their past in the course of the investigation, they learn that people―including them―are not always who they appear to be. But when they uncover the painting’s deepest secret, it gives them the gift of love that they have unconsciously been seeking all along.

EXCERPT & GIVEAWAY! invisible-i-am by Gregg Davis Written By Harriet Showman

 

Harriet Showman (born 9 May 1954) is an author and multimedia artist born in South Carolina and raised in Pennsylvania. She returned to South Carolina for university and lives there today. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in colonial South Carolina history and has spent much of her life helping children and young adults succeed amidst challenging circumstances, including poverty and abuse. With a strong core of allies, Showman helped to establish a statewide Guardian ad Litem program to provide legal support for abused children; a Cities in Schools organization to serve underprivileged students; and a vehicle for the accumulation of monies to be distributed in grants through the Children’s Trust Fund. As a development officer for South Carolina’s flagship university, Showman attracted resources from major, national foundations to target South Carolina’s most urgent needs. She remains interested in the plight of children, teens and adults who suffer abuse, oppression and the paralyzing pain of invisibility.

Interview & Giveaway: Jonathan Unleashed by Meg Rosoff

Author Meg Rosoff, an owner of two dogs herself, was recently awarded the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and film rights for JONATHAN UNLEASHED have been optioned by Qwerty Films, with Michael Kuhn as producer (Being John Malkovich, The Duchess, Florence Foster Jenkins) with Rosoff writing the screenplay. Today I have a Q & A with the author and a print copy to give away. Make yourself comfy and enjoy!

Steph Reviews The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Series: Don Tillman #1
Format Read: Paperback
Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a "wonderful" husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical--most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent--and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie--and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

"The Rosie Project" is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges..

GIVEAWAY, INTERVIEW, & RECIPES: A Dictionary Of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton

This book appealed to several of us here but we weren't able to review it so I decided we'd feature it. There's a short Q&A with the author, Jackie Copleton, some Japanese recipes (including cake!), and the publisher is giving away one copy of the book to a US reader. Make yourself comfy and enjoy!

Jackie Copleton spent three years teaching English in Nagasaki and Sapporo. A journalist, she now lives with her husband in Glasgow, Scotland.
Find Jackie Online:

website
twitter
goodreads

EXCERPT And GIVEAWAY: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

On May 26th, all three All Souls Trilogy novels were released in an elegantly designed paperback boxed set that’s perfect for fans and newcomers alike (Penguin Books; On-sale: May 26, 2015; $51.00).

Deborah Harkness is the number one New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life. A history professor at the University of Southern California, Harkness has received Fulbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships. Her publications include works on the history of science, magic, and alchemy.  Her most recent scholarly book is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution.  She lives in Los Angeles.

Deborah Harkness will be touring to:

 New Orleans * Asheville, NC * Nashville * Washington, D.C. * Pittsburgh * Dallas

Wichita * Boulder * Ann Arbor * Petoskey, MI * Chicago * Santa Fe * Albuquerque

Los Angeles * Seattle

Jax Reviews The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

Publisher: Penguin Books

Series: All Souls Trilogy, book 3

Format Read: ebook

Source: purchased by reviewer

Release Date: July 15,2014

Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* |  Barnes & Noble | 

* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches--with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

The Friday 56: Mightier Than The Sword by Jeffrey Archer

This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join in the fun go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

I'm reading an historical saga, "Mighter Than the Sword", by Jeffrey Archer. The quote is from page 56  in the large print hardcover.

"What could be bigger than the possible sinking of the Buckingham by the IRA on its maiden voyage?"

Jax Reviews La Belle Femme by Aine Greaney

Publisher: Pixel Hall Press
Format Read: ebook
Source: publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: Decemer 21, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* |   Barnes & Noble | 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb:

An Irish short story told from opposite points of view, "La Belle Femme" follows Moira and Alan, both middle-aged, and both married to other people, who have used their every-other-month business trips to conduct a long-term illicit affair. During one rainy summer, Moira's marriage implodes, while Alan and his wife suffer empty-nest syndrome. Unknown to the other, each decides to finally end their years' long tryst. But after all these years,neither has a clue how to end it truthfully.

Veiled Intentions by Eileen Carr - Guest Post & Giveaway!

The blurb for this book is so timely and important I knew I had to be part of the tour. The lovely cover didn't hurt either. :) The author, Eileen Carr, has a guest post for you today, and there's a giveaway too. Make yourself comfy and I hope you enjoy!

Eileen Carr was born in Dayton, Ohio. She moved when she was four and only remembers that she was born across the street from Baskin-Robbins. Eileen remembers anything that has to do with ice cream. Or chocolate. Or champagne.

Blog Tour Review, Guest Post, & Giveaway - Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumb

 

Publisher: Abingdon
Series: Ballad Books
Format Read: print ARC
Source: PR firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 23, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble | 
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When someone buys the old Honeycutt house, Nora Bonesteel is glad to see some life brought back to the old mansion, even if it is by summer people. But when they decide to stay through Christmas, they find more than old memories in the walls. On Christmas Eve, Sheriff Spencer Arrowwood and Deputy Joe LeDonne find themselves on an unwelcome call to arrest an elderly man for a minor offense. As they attempt to do their duty, while doing the right thing for a neighbor, it begins to look like they may all spend Christmas away from home. In a story of spirits, memories, and angels unaware, Sharyn McCrumb revisits her most loved characters who know there is more to this world than the eye can see, especially at Christmastime.

The Friday 56 #34 Bob, Son of Battle by Sir Alfred Ollivant

This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join in the fun go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

I'm reading a children's book about a Scottish sheep dog,  "Alfred Ollivant's Bob, Son of Battle: The Last Gray Dog of Kenmuir" by Lydia Davis. It's marketed as a children's book but really it's more YA on up. It's similar to Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight. The quote is from 56%  in the ebook. A dog has been killing sheep and there's much speculation, and tension, about which local dog it is.

"Where's yer gray dog?" This time the challenge was unmistakable.
"I sent him after the killer. Where's your red wull (also a dog ~ Bea)?"
"At home, as I told ye before."
"You mean you left him there?"
McAdam's fingers twitched.
"He's where I left him."

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Bea Reviews Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer

Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
Series: The Clifton Chronicles #4
Format Read: Large Print Hardcover
Source: local library
Release Date: March 5, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer's Be Careful What You Wish For opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to hospital to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been involved in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend Bruno?

When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, the egregious Major Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham.

Back in London, Harry and Emma’s adopted daughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with a fellow student, Clive Bingham, who asks her to marry him. Both families are delighted until Priscilla Bingham, Jessica’s future mother-in-law, has a visit from an old friend, Lady Virginia Fenwick, who drops her particular brand of poison into the wedding chalice.

Then, without warning, Cedric Hardcastle, a bluff Yorkshireman who no one has come across before, takes his place on the board of Barringtons. This causes an upheaval that none of them could have anticipated, and will change the lives of every member of the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle’s first decision is who to support to become the next chairman of the board: Emma Clifton or Major Alex Fisher? And with that decision, the story takes yet another twist that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Be Careful What You Wish For showcases the master storyteller’s talent as never before – when the Clifton and Barrington families march forward into the sixties, in this epic tale of love, revenge, ambition and betrayal.

Review & Audio Excerpt - Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer

Publisher: Thorndike Press Large Print
Series: The Clifton Chronicles #3
Format Read: hardcover large print
Source: local library
Release Date: May 21, 2013
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads: SPOILERS FOR BOOK TWO

"New York Times" bestseller Jeffrey Archer continues his beloved Clifton Chronicle series as Harry and Emma finally begin building a happy life--but a dangerous family enemy is about to resurface

"Best Kept Secret" opens a moment after the end of "The Sins of the Father," with the resolution of the trial and the triumphant marriage of Harry Clifton and Elizabeth Barrington, finally uniting their family. Harry, now a bestselling novelist, Emma, their son Sebastian, and orphaned Jessica make a new life for themselves, but all is not as happy and secure as it could be. Emma's brother, Giles, is engaged to a woman who may be more interested in Barrington's fortune and title than in a long and happy marriage. And Sebastian, though he is bright, isn't quite the hard worker that his father was at school, and finds a hard time resisting the temptations that his somewhat unsavory friends provide.
It all comes to a head when a new villain is uncovered, a face from the past with grudges against both Harry and Giles--Fisher, who tortured Harry at school and later took credit for Giles' heroics during the war. Fisher teams up with Giles' now ex-wife to wreak havoc on Giles' latest election as well as meddle with affairs inside Barringtons, while Harry and Emma must deal with a new scheme that Sebastian has unwittingly fallen into with a supposed friend. The drama continues for Harry Clifton and his family, bringing this mesmerizing saga into the 1960s.

Bea Reviews Dog Gone, Back Soon by Nick Trout

Publisher: Hyperion
Series: Cyrus Mills #2
Format Read: eGalley
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository*  | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When Dr. Cyrus Mills returned home after inheriting his estranged father's veterinary practice, The Bedside Manor for Sick Animals, the last thing he wanted was to stay in Eden Falls, Vermont, a moment longer than absolutely necessary. However, the previously reclusive veterinarian pathologist quickly found that he actually enjoyed treating animals and getting to know the eccentric residents of the tiny provincial town-especially an alluring waitress named Amy.

So Cyrus is now determined to make Bedside Manor thrive. Not an easy goal, given that Healthy Paws, the national veterinary chain across town, will stop at nothing to crush its mom-and-pop competitor. And the rival vet practice isn't Cyrus's only competition; a handsome stranger shows up out of nowhere who clearly has a mysterious past with Amy. To top it off, Cyrus finds himself both the guardian of a very unique orphaned dog and smack in the middle of serious small town drama.

This charming sequel to The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs is a wild and delightful ride through one jam- packed week, where Cyrus must figure out how to outsmart the evil veterinary conglomerate, win back Amy's heart, solve several tricky veterinary cases, find a home for an orphaned dog, and detangle himself from an absurd case of mistaken identity. DOG GONE, BACK SOON brims with Nick Trout's trademark humor, charm, and captivating animal stories, and is proof that all dogs, lost or not, on four feet or two, deserve a second chance.

The Friday 56 #26 Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer

This is a fun meme to do hosted by Freda's Voice. If you'd like to join in the fun go to The Friday 56.

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

I'm reading an epic historical fiction, "Best Kept Secret" by Jeffrey Archer.  The quote is from page 56  in the large print hardcover.

"Yes, I'll be holding your hand throughout the trip," she said casually. "I usually stay in New York and allow a local publicist in each city to look after visiting authors but not this time, because  Mr. Guinzbugh insisted I wasn't to leave your side." She lightly touched his leg again, before turning a page of the folder on her lap.

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Interview with Author Ramona Flightner & A Giveaway

Today I have an interview with Ramona Flightner, author of the historical fiction novel, "Banished Love". There's also a giveaway at the end so grab a drink and start reading. Enjoy!

Ramona Flightner is a native of Missoula, Montana. After graduating from Tufts University with a B.A. in Spanish, she earned a Masters degree in Spanish Literature from the University of Montana. Her Master’s thesis, Chilean Testimonial Literature: the collective suffering of a people, highlighted her continued interest in the stories of those who were at risk of being forgotten or silenced.

She studied nursing at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a Master’s in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner. She has worked for ten years as a family nurse practitioner providing care to the poor and under insured at two community health centers, first in Wilmington, Delaware and now in Boston, Massachusetts.