Baker’s Blues, by Judith Ryan Hendricks #review #TLC Book Tours

19 August 2015 by Melissa

About Baker’s Blues

Publisher: Chien Bleu Press

In Wyn Morrison’s world a 5 AM phone call usually means problems at her bakery—equipment trouble or a first shift employee calling in sick—annoying but mundane, fixable. But the news she receives on a warm July morning is anything but mundane. Or fixable.

Mac, her ex-husband, is dead.

Ineligible for widowhood, Wyn is nonetheless shaken to her core as she discovers that the fact of divorce offers no immunity from grief. Friends and family are bewildered by her spiral into sadness, Mac’s daughter Skye blames her for his death.

For the last several years Wyn has been more businesswoman than baker, leaving the actual bread making to others. Now, as she takes up her place in the bread rotation once more, she will sift through her memories, coming to terms with Mac and his demons, with Skye’s anger, and with Alex, who was once more than a friend. Soon she will re-learn the lessons of bread that she first discovered at the Queen Street Bakery in Seattle…bread rises, pain fades, the heart heals, and the future waits.

Buy, read, and discuss Baker’s Blues

Amazon | Goodreads

About the author, Judith Ryan Hendricks

.Judith Ryan Hendricks was born in San Jose, California, when Silicon Valley was the Santa Clara Valley, better known for orchards than for computer chips.

Armed with a degree in journalism, she worked as a journalist, copywriter, computer instructor, travel agent, waitress and baker before turning to fiction writing. Her experiences at the McGraw Street Bakery in Seattle led to her first novel, Bread Alone and the sequel, The Baker’s Apprentice.

A life-long infatuation with the Southwest provided inspiration for Isabel’s Daughter and her fourth book, The Laws of Harmony. Hendricks’ fiction has been translated into 12 languages and distributed in more than 16 countries worldwide.

Her nonfiction has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle and Tiny Lights, A Journal of Personal Essay, Grand Gourmet in Italy and The London Sunday Express. Her short fiction has appeared in Woman’s Weekly in Britain and AMERICAN GIRLS ON THE TOWN, an anthology, in the U.S. and U.K.

She lives in New Mexico with husband Geoff and dog Blue.

Connect with Judi at her website, judihendricks.com

My Thoughts:

I’m not going to lie: when it comes to Judith Ryan Hendricks, I’m an unabashed fangirl. So much of what she writes speaks to me, and it’s because of her that I started experimenting with baking bread again just after reading her first novel Bread Alone.

Baker’s Blues is the second sequel to that first novel, and our protagonist, Wynter (Wyn) has matured in this book. She seems much more grounded and centered, even as she’s dealing with major life events, for this book opens with the off-camera death of Mac (the lover, then husband, then ex-husband she met in the first book) and the family drama that comes with it, much of which is embodied in his adult daughter Skye.

As Wyn has matured, so has Hendricks’s writing. Always full of imagery, always replete with splendid, dimensional characterization, in Baker’s Blues we see that the author, like her character, is ‘simplified’ – honed down to the most essential words and phrases.

The result is a reading experience that’s just luscious. The dialogue sounds completely true-to-life, and I was really impressed by the way Hendricks conveys so much with body language. The prickly don’t-touch-me of Skye and Wyn’s inner battle to reach out or stay safely within herself are both particularly notable.

Where Hendricks’s writing soars is when food – especially bread – enter the story. If her first novel bordered on ‘food porn,’ this one is more a sumptuous feast: elegant, perfectly balanced, and incredibly satisfying.

But then, those words could be used to describe Baker’s Blues as a whole, as well.

Goes well with bread, cheese, olives and/or raisins, and a glass of wine….what else?

Judith Ryan Hendrick’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, August 3rd: Farmgirl Fare – Review & A Conversation with the Author

Monday, August 3rd: Thoughts on This and That

Tuesday, August 4th: Kahakai Kitchen

Tuesday, August 4th: Jorie Loves a Story – guest post

Wednesday, August 5th: A Chick Who Reads

Thursday, August 6th: Griperang’s Bookmarks

Friday, August 7th: Kritter’s Ramblings

Monday, August 10th: I Wish I Lived in a Library

Wednesday, August 12th: Peeking Between the Pages

Wednesday, August 12th: Time 2 Read

Friday, August 14th: Walking with Nora

Monday, August 17th: Guiltless Reading

Tuesday, August 18th: Broken Teepee

Wednesday, August 19th: Bibliotica – review and guest post

Thursday, August 20th: 5 Minutes for Books

Monday, August 24th: girlichef

Tuesday, August 25th: BookNAround

Wednesday, August 26th: Bell Book and Candle

Thursday, August 27th: Thoughts from an Evil Overlord

Andersonville, by Edward M. Erdelac #review #TLCBookTours

18 August 2015 by Melissa

About the book, Andersonville

Hydra | Aug 18, 2015 | 272 Pages

Readers of Stephen King and Joe Hill will devour this bold, terrifying new novel from Edward M. Erdelac. A mysterious man posing as a Union soldier risks everything to enter the Civil War’s deadliest prison—only to find a horror beyond human reckoning.

Georgia, 1864. Camp Sumter, aka Andersonville, has earned a reputation as an open sewer of sadistic cruelty and terror where death may come at any minute. But as the Union prisoners of war pray for escape, cursing the fate that spared them a quicker end, one man makes his way into the camp purposefully.

Barclay Lourdes has a mission—and a secret. But right now his objective is merely to survive the hellish camp. The slightest misstep summons the full fury of the autocratic commander, Captain Wirz, and the brutal Sergeant Turner. Meanwhile, a band of shiftless thieves and criminals known as the “Raiders” preys upon their fellow prisoners. Barclay soon finds that Andersonville is even less welcoming to a black man—especially when that man is not who he claims to be. Little does he imagine that he’s about to encounter supernatural terrors beyond his wildest dreams . . . or nightmares.

Buy, read, and discuss Andersonville

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Edward M. Erdelac

Edward M. Erdelac is a member of the Horror Writers Association and the author of six novels (including the acclaimed weird western series Merkabah Rider) and several short stories. He is an independent filmmaker, award-winning screenwriter, and sometime Star Wars contributor. Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and a bona fide slew of children and cats.

My Thoughts

Sometimes gritty reality can be more horrific than anything supernatural, and that’s true for Edward M. Erdelac’s Civil War novel Andersonville, the prison at Camp Sumter. It’s place where prisoners fight over food and personal dignity, where darkness and misery are the only constants, and where death is often a release.

It’s also a place that Barclay Lourdes, a black Union soldier (who, it’s worth pointing out, was never a slave) is trying to get INTO so he can see the truth of what’s going on.

Erdelac tells the dual stories of Lourdes and Captain Wirz (camp commander) with as much historical accuracy as a contemporary writer can. Certainly in our world where we strive for inclusion, the use of period language was both jarring and integral to the plot (well, certain words – mostly variations of the n-word – which, no, I’m not afraid to write, but refrain for the sake of sensitive readers).

The fact that there’s a supernatural element at play is just another layer, and Erdelac makes it strangely plausible. In this place where lives are worthless, how much scarier could things possibly get?

The truth, of course, is that the supernatural elements of this story add more depth than they do horror. The real horror comes from what humans do to each other, whether or not they’re excused for their behavior because, “we’re at war.”

Erdelac’s writing hooks you from the first page, and the pace of this novel keeps you hooked. It’s part slow southern drawl and part quick, clipped, northern speech, and all of it – all of it- is incredibly lyrical and haunting.

Read this if you want a gritty, reality based horror story, if you are fascinated by the Civil War, or if you just want to dive into a story that is both provocative and perfectly chilling.

Goes well with pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, and lemonade.

Edward M. Erdelac’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, August 17th: Stephanie’s Book Reviews….100 Pages a Day

Monday, August 17th: Bell, Book & Candle

Tuesday, August 18th: Fourth Street Review

Tuesday, August 18th: Bibliotica

Wednesday, August 19th: The Reader’s Hollow

Wednesday, August 19th: Tynga’s Reviews

Thursday, August 20th: A Book Geek

Monday, August 24th: Bewitched Bookworms

Tuesday, August 25th: Kissin’ Blue Karen

Wednesday, August 26th: Kari J. Wolfe

Thursday, August 27th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, August 28th: Vic’s Media Room

Monday, August 31st: It’s a Mad Mad World

Tuesday, September 1st: SJ2B House of Books

Wednesday, September 2nd: Historical Fiction Obsession

Thursday, September 3rd: Kimberly’s Bookshelf

Friday, September 4th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Monday, September 7th: From the TBR Pile

The Hypnotist, by Gordon Snider #review #TLCBookTours

14 August 2015 by Melissa

About the book, The Hypnotist

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Helm Publishing (August 3, 2009)

In 1906, San Francisco has reached the peak of its golden age. Fortunes have created a society that attracts European opera singers and cordon bleu chefs. It is a world defined by elegant balls, oysters, and champagne. But there are darker sides to the city as well. The Mission district south of Market Street houses tenements where shanties huddle together and rats plague the streets. And nearby sits Chinatown, an endless warren of dark alleys that offers gambling, prostitution, and opium, all controlled by vicious gangs, called tongs.

Into these disparate worlds steps Marta Baldwin, a young woman who has shunned her own social background to help the poor. She is confronted by a hypnotist, a man who hypnotizes young women from the tenements and delivers them to the tongs in Chinatown to work in their brothels. Marta escapes his hypnotic trance, but when her assistant, Missy, disappears, Marta realizes she has been taken by the evil man who confronted her. She seeks the help of Byron Wagner, one of San Francisco’s most prominent citizens. Marta finds herself drawn to Byron but knows his high social standing prevents any possibility of a relationship between them. This is confirmed when Marta discovers Byron having an intimate conversation with Lillie Collins, the daughter of one of the city’s most elite families. Marta is flushed with jealousy. However, Lillie defies social customs, and her rebellious nature fits naturally with Marta’s. Despite her envy, the two women become close friends. Marta is caught up in a whirlwind of opulent balls, opium dens and brothels, and police raids in Chinatown. She cannot deny her feelings for Byron, but she must save Missy and protect her new friends from harm. For lurking in the background is the hypnotist. He has become obsessed with Marta and will use all his guile to ensnare her. When he threatens those she loves, Marta is determined to stop him, even at her own peril. Will her boldness entrap her? If so, how can she hope to escape the man’s hypnotic embrace? Then the earth trembles, and Marta’s world will never be the same.

Buy, read, and discuss, The Hypnotist

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Helm Publishing | Goodreads

About the author, Gordon Snider

Gordon Snider has written three non-fiction books, including his latest, I’m Travelling as Fast as I Can, which takes a humorous journey to far-away-places around the world. When he moved to California’s Central Coast in 1999, he began writing fiction. The Origamist is his fifth novel and a sequel to his third, The Hypnotist, a very popular historical thriller that is set in San Francisco in 1906. The other novels include: Sigourney’s Quest, an adventure story about a woman’s harrowing journey across Tibet; The Separatist, a mystery/suspense novel set in modern San Francisco; and Venice Lost, an adventure/fantasy about a man who becomes lost in time in Venice, Italy.

Gordon has lived in California nearly his entire life. Home has ranged from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with stops in Santa Barbara and Pismo Beach. Currently, he and his wife, Fe, enjoy walking the beaches and observing the migrating whales from their home in Pismo Beach. It is, he says, the perfect setting for creative writing.

Find out more about Gordon and his books on his website.

My Thoughts

Having spent a lot of time in a more contemporary version of San Francisco’s Chinatown as a college student and bay area resident (though I don’t live there any longer), and one of the things I really appreciated about The Hypnotist was the way author Gordon Snider completely captured the fog and bustle, the overlapping conversations, and the architecture – the whole sense of the region really.

The other thing that really stood out for me was his protagonist Marta. Other reviewers (the nice thing about being at the end of a tour is that you get to see what other people thought) have pointed out that she is ahead of her time -a feminist, a woman with a strong sense of self and a strong sense of agency – and in other hands she would have felt like a contemporary character pulled out of time, but Snider has crafted his setting so well, that he keeps her progressive but still true to the period.

I also enjoyed the character of her friend Lillie (and have wondered if she was at all influenced by figures like Lillie Langtry and Molly Brown, because there were parts of her that reminded me a bit of both, especially the former), who was a breath of fresh air whenever we saw her.

The men – Byron, the Hypnotist – were less appealing to me. I found that I enjoyed the plot and the setting far more than most of the male characters. They weren’t badly written, or unsympathetic, really, I just didn’t connect with them.

On the other hand, I’d read a whole series about the adventures of Marta and Lillie solving mysteries (human trafficking or not) in period San Francisco.

Still, this was an enjoyable read, and provoked a lot of thought as I was reading it, and not a few dinner-table conversations about the setting, the plot, etc.

Gordon Snider, in The Hypnotist, has given us a novel that is much more complex and compelling than its description implies.

Goes well with steaming mugs of Lapsang Souchong and those crumbly almond cookies that sound better than they taste.

Gordon’s Tour Stops

Monday, July 20th: The Reading Cove Book Club

Tuesday, July 21st: A Wondrous Bookshelf

Thursday, July 23rd: Dwell in Possibility

Tuesday, July 28th: It’s a Mad Mad World

Thursday, July 30th: Raven Haired Girl

Monday, August 3rd: The Bibliophile Chronicles

Tuesday, August 4th: A Fantastical Librarian

Wednesday, August 5th: 5 Minutes For Books

Thursday, August 6th: Books That Hook

Thursday, August 13th: Book Nerd

Thursday, August 13th: Mom in Love With Fiction

Friday, August 14th: Bibliotica

Monday, August 17th: A Reader’s Oasis

Friday, August 21st: Kahakai Kitchen

TBD: Lauren Hearts Books

Killing Secrets, by Dianne Emley (@DianneEmley) #review #TLCBookTours

13 August 2015 by Melissa

About Killing Secrets: A Nan Vining Mystery

File Size: 1450 KB
Print Length: 273 pages
Publisher: Alibi (July 21, 2015)
Publication Date: July 21, 2015

For fans of Patricia Cornwell, Tana French, and Lisa Gardner comes a razor-sharp novel of suspense featuring Detective Nan Vining—a single mother whose worlds collide when her teenage daughter stumbles upon a grisly double homicide.

When she gets the call, Nan Vining responds as a mother first and a detective second. Her daughter, Emily, has made a gruesome discovery in a secluded section of a Pasadena park: a pretty, popular young teacher from Emily’s high school and a bright yet troubled transfer student—both dead and bloody in a copse of trees. But the crime scene isn’t the only thing that seems off to Detective Vining. There’s also the cocky classmate who was with Emily in the park—the boyfriend she never knew about. What else doesn’t she know about her daughter?

As she attempts to channel both her maternal and investigative instincts into one single point of focus, Vining’s superiors at the Pasadena Police Department are moving at lightning speed. Before the evidence has even been processed, the case is closed as a clear-cut murder/suicide: a disturbed teenager murders his teacher, then takes his own life. Vining doesn’t buy it. Now she’s chasing dangerous, powerful people with secrets they would kill for—and taking them down means risking her own flesh and blood.

Buy, read, and discuss Killing Secrets

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Dianne Emley

Dianne Emley is the bestselling author of The Night Visitor and the Nan Vining series: The First Cut, Cut to the Quick, The Deepest Cut, and Love Kills. A Los Angeles native, she lives in the Central California wine country with her husband, Charlie.

Connect with Dianne

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

Killing Secrets was my first introduction to both author Dianne Emley and character Nan Vining, although this is hardly the first book in the Nan Vining series. While I’m certain reading of Vining’s previous adventures would have enriched my experience, I had no problem jumping into her world, or following all the elements of the story: solving a murder/suicide, dealing with the internal politics at play in the police department, or parenting a teenager. (This latter element, by the way, made me glad that I only ever have to deal with adolescent dogs.)

I felt that Nan’s internal conflict – her paid job as a police detective vs. her role as a single parent – really permeated the story, because motherhood never stops being part of your psyche, and I liked that author Dianne Emley reflected that struggle so realistically.

I also enjoyed the plot of the novel. I tend toward more cozy mysteries than not, and this book struck me as riding the edge of contemporary cozy. Certainly, it had dark moments, and a fast-paced action-filled plot, but it also had the lighter, more human moments that really “sell” stories for me, and I thought everything was really well balanced.

Nan, herself, is an easy character to like: flawed, fierce, dimensional, real. I’m pretty sure I’ve met her – or versions of her – during my lifetime.

These books are Kindle only, but at roughly $3/pop they take the ‘guilty’ our of ‘guilty pleasure,’ and leave just ‘pleasure’ behind. And Killing Secrets was absolutely a pleasure to read: well crafted with believable situations and characters, and a version of reality that closely matches our own.

Goes well with Chinese take-out and jasmine tea.

Dianne Emley’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, July 20th: I Wish I Lived in a Library

Wednesday, July 22nd: Buried Under Books

Thursday, July 23rd: A Book Geek

Thursday, July 23rd: Open Book Society

Monday, July 27th: Book Babe

Tuesday, July 28th: Kay’s Reading Life

Wednesday, July 29th: FictionZeal

Monday, August 3rd: From the TBR Pile

Tuesday, August 4th: Bewitched Bookworms

Thursday, August 6th: The Novel Life

Monday, August 10th: Peeking Between the Pages

Wednesday, August 12th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Thursday, August 13th: Bibliotica

TBD: Bell, Book & Candle

The Ones We Trust, by Kimberly Belle (@kimberlysbelle) #review #TLCBookTours

12 August 2015 by Melissa

About the book, The Ones We Trust

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Mira (July 28, 2015)

When former DC journalist Abigail Wolff attempts to rehabilitate her career, she finds herself at the heart of a US army cover-up involving the death of a soldier in Afghanistan—with unspeakable emotional consequences for one family. As the story of what happened comes to light, Abigail will do anything to write it.

The more evidence she stumbles upon in the case, the fewer people it seems she can trust, including her own father, a retired army general. And she certainly never expected to fall in love with the slain soldier’s brother, Gabe, a bitter man struggling to hold his family together. The investigation eventually leads her to an impossible choice, one of unrelenting sacrifice to protect those she loves.

Beyond the buried truths and betrayals, questions of family loyalty and redemption, Abigail’s search is, most of all, a desperate grasp at carrying on and coping—and seeking hope in the impossible.

Buy, read, and discuss The Ones We Trust

Amazon | Indie Bound | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About the author, Kimberly Belle

Kimberly Belle grew up in Eastern Tennessee, in a small town nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians. A graduate of Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, Kimberly lived for over a decade in the Netherlands and has worked in marketing and fundraising for various nonprofits. She’s the author of two novels, THE LAST BREATH and THE ONES WE TRUST (August 2015). She divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam.

Connect with Kimberly

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

My Thoughts

I know it’s a completely unfounded bias, but I’m always a bit wary when I crack open a book from Mira, because I know they’re a Harlequin imprint. Most of the time, my wariness is completely unwarranted, and with The Ones we Trust that was absolutely true. This novel is intelligent, interesting, and completely engaging.

I really liked main character Abby. Specifically, I liked her as much for her spunk and resolve as I did for her mad research skills and for the fact that even with all her good points, she was still a flawed, faltering human being. Similarly, the male lead, Gabe, was a compelling, dimensional character, not just a cookie-cutter romance hero.

The plot was well-paced and I liked that elements like PTSD, while integral to the story, were never treated exploitatively. There’s a fine balance with things like that, and in less able hands, the story could have gone in unfortunate directions.

That said, Belle’s writing voice is fresh and compelling.

If you want to read a novel that blends political intrigue and believable romance, you can trust The Ones We Trust.

Kimberly Belle’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Tuesday, July 28th: Books a la Mode – author guest post

Wednesday, July 29th: Life is Story

Thursday, July 30th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Tuesday, August 4th: Mom’s Small Victories

Thursday, August 6th: Kritter’s Ramblings

Friday, August 7th: Romancing the Book – review & interview

Monday, August 10th: Books and Spoons

Monday, August 10th: Just One More Chapter

Tuesday, August 11th: Just One More Chapter – author guest post

Tuesday, August 11th: Jorie Loves a Story – author guest post

Wednesday, August 12th: Bibliotica

Friday, August 14th: From the TBR Pile – review and author Q&A

Monday, August 17th: Feminist Reflections

Wednesday, August 19th: Read Love Blog – author guest post

Thursday, August 20th: The World As I See It

TBD: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

The Reinvention of Albert Paugh, by Jean Davies Okimoto #review #TLCBookTours

11 August 2015 by Melissa

About the book The Reinvention of Albert Paugh

Page count: 288 pages

Publisher: Endicott and Hugh Books

Dr. Albert Paugh is flunking retirement. After selling his Vashon Island veterinary practice, he soon finds himself not only lost without his work, but suddenly single. His efforts to carve out a new life, both as a bachelor and a retiree, only leave him feeling like his golden years are fast becoming years of gloom. His regrets pile up until he moves to Baker’s Beach where he gets to know a very special neighbor, learns that friends are the family you choose, and finds a new sense of purpose. The Reinvention of Albert Paugh is a sweet, funny love story about retirees that will delight readers (and dog lovers) of any age.

The Reinvention of Albert Paugh is the third book in Jean Davies Okimoto’s Island Trilogy, following The Love Ceiling and Walter’s Muse.

Buy, read, and discuss The Reinvention of Albert Paugh

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-a-Million

About the author, Jean Davis Okimoto

Jean Davies Okimoto is an author and playwright whose books and short stories have been translated into Japanese, Italian, Chinese, German, Danish, Korean and Hebrew. She is the recipient of numerous awards including Smithsonian Notable Book, the American LibraryAssociation Best Book for Young Adults, the Washington Governor’s Award and the International Reading Association Readers Choice Award. Her picture book, Blumpoe the Grumpoe Meets Arnold the Cat was adapted by Shelly Duvall for the HBO and Showtime television series “Bedtime Stories.” Her debut novel for adults The Love Ceiling was a season’s pick by the King County Library System, named to the ABA Indie Next Reading Group List and ebook Fiction Winner in the 2009 Indie Next Generation Awards. She has appeared on CNN, Oprah, and The Today Show. Jeanie, who is also a retired psychotherapist, began writing for adults when she and her husband Joe retired to Vashon Island in 2004 where they (and their dogs Bert and Willie) are visited by deer families and their six grandchildren.

For more information on Ms. Okimoto, please visit her website at www.jeandaviesokimoto.com.

My Thoughts

The Reinvention of Albert Paugh is a quirky and sweet novel, with an idyllic Pacific Northwest island setting and a cast of characters that can charm the pants off you, even while they’re driving you crazy. Reading it is like visiting the village you never knew you wanted to live in.

If I had to pick a word – a single word – to describe the eponymous title character, I would describe Albert as ‘befuddled,’ and while this novel could be considered to be ‘about’ his love of animals, his divorce, his post-retirement lifestyle, in many ways it’s really about Albert clearing away his terminal befuddlement and seeing the world with fresh, new, eyes.

As someone who has watched her parents move through many post-retirement configurations, and as someone who is no longer in any of the ticky-boxes that are anything other than ‘middle aged’ (this despite the fact that I got carded buying wine on Friday) this story felt especially relevant and poignant. We will all wake up one morning and realize our lives are not what we planned or hoped, and that the only people who can change that is ourselves.

Author Jean Davis Okimoto has a knack for characterization – every person (and dog) in this novel felt completely real, from the annoying woman with the corgi to the wife who demands a divorce in the early chapters, and the settings also felt incredibly cinematic.

This is the third book in a trilogy, but I haven’t read the first two. While I’m certain doing so would have given me greater familiarity with Vashon Island and it’s denizens, I did not feel like I was coming into the middle of a story at all.

If you want to read something that will charm the pants off you, and then get you out of your chair to play fetch with the dog in your life, The Reinvention of Albert Paugh would be an excellent choice.

Goes well with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, and a cold locally brewed craft beer.

Jean Davies Okimoto’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, August 3rd: Book Dilettante

Wednesday, August 5th: Mama Vicky Says

Monday, August 10th: The Book Wheel

Tuesday, August 11th: Bibliotica

Wednesday, August 12th: Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Thursday, August 13th: BookNAround

Friday, August 14th: Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, August 17th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Wednesday, August 19th: Life is Story

Monday, August 24th: Joyfully Retired

Wednesday, August 26th: From the TBR Pile

Friday, August 28th: View from the Birdhouse

The Uninvited by Cat Winters (@catwinters) #review #TLCBookTours #TheUninvited

7 August 2015 by Melissa

About the book, The Uninvited

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 11, 2015)

Twenty-five-year-old Ivy Rowan rises from her sickbed after being struck by the great influenza epidemic of 1918, only to discover that the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.

But Ivy’s lifelong gift—or curse—remains. She sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked for and unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918, Ivy sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death in the Great War of Ivy’s other brother, Billy.

Horrified, she leaves home and soon realizes that the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for today, because they could be stricken by nightfall. She even enters into a relationship with the murdered German man’s brother, Daniel Schendel. But as her “uninvited guests” begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once again, and terrifying secrets will unfold.

Buy, read, and discuss The Uninvited

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads

About the author, Cat Winters

Cat Winters’s debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, was released to widespread critical acclaim. The novel has been named a finalist for the 2014 Morris Award, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013, and a Booklist 2013 Top 10 Horror Fiction for Youth. Winters lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children.

Connect with Cat

Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

My Thoughts

From the first page there’s a slow, sort of watery feeling to this book, as if you’re seeing everything through a lens coated with vaseline, or looking through pond ripples, are recovering from a deadly fever. Its a feeling that is obviously intentional, as even a few scenes that should be brutal have a touch of unreality to them – not in the sense that they’re not plausible – but in the sense that a sort of dream-state is still lingering. Partly, this is because protagonist Ivy can see ghosts, and her long-dead grandmother has just visited. This means someone else’s life has been lost.

As we are introduced to Ivy and her family, all reacting to the combined forces of an influenza epidemic that has taken over their small town, and the war that would come to be known as World War I having taken over the planet, that watery feeling pays off. Ivy has had the flu, and when she overhears that her father and brother have murdered the German owner of a local furniture store, she insists she has to leave home. (She is, after all, twenty-five.)

Author Cat Winters has a great feel for tone. Ivy’s walk felt ploddingly long and her arrival at the hotel was such a relief but the other-ness of the story never really left, so much as it was driven back to the corners as Ivy claimed her own agency.

The characters we meet later, especially Lucas, May, and Daniel, are all fascinating studies in extremes – the fervent idealistic patriot, the wounded widow, the immigrant who fees downtrodden – they are archetypes, but they are also so much more. Rich and layered, all the characters in this novel feel like people we all might have been related to, once upon a time. That sense of familiarity makes them seem all the more dimensional. It’s quite a trick.

I felt The Uninvited was well paced, and well plotted. I especially liked the way the twist near the end was handled so subtly. Like M. Night Shyamalan’s vintage work (you know, back when his stuff was good) the clues are all there, and things that are easily missed on a first read seem painfully obvious once all is revealed.

I’m not sure if this novel is horror or supernatural romance or kind of both…but it was a gripping read, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Goes well with homemade apple pie, served warm with vanilla bean ice cream and a cup of strong coffee.

Cat’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, August 4th: 100 Pages a Day … Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Thursday, August 6th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, August 7th: Bibliotica

Monday, August 10th: Kritters Ramblings

Tuesday, August 11th: From the TBR Pile

Wednesday, August 12th: Jenn’s Booshelves

Thursday, August 13th: Bookshelf Fantasies

Thursday, August 13th: Sidewalk Shoes

Monday, August 17th: The Reader’s Hollow

Tuesday, August 18th: Bibliophilia, Please

Wednesday, August 19th: Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, August 20th: Raven Haired Girl

Friday, August 21st: A Chick Who Reads

The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, by Pam Jenoff (@PamJenoff) #review #giveaway @TLCBookTours

5 August 2015 by Melissa

About The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Mira (July 28, 2015)

Adelia Montforte begins the summer of 1941 aboard a crowded ship bound for America, utterly alone yet free of Fascist Italy. Whisked away to the seaside by her well-meaning aunt and uncle, she slowly begins to adapt to her new life. That summer, she basks in the noisy affection of the boisterous Irish-Catholic boys next door, and although she adores all four of the Connally brothers, it’s the eldest, Charlie, she pines for. But all hopes for a future together are throttled by the creep of war and a tragedy that hits much closer to home.

Needing to distance herself from grief, Addie flees – first to Washington and then London, where the bombs still scream by night – and finds a passion at a prestigious newspaper. More so, she finds a purpose. A voice. And perhaps even a chance to redeem lost time, lost family – and lost love. But the past, never far behind, nips at her heels, demanding to be reckoned with. And in a final, fateful choice, Addie discovers that the way home may be a path she never suspected.

Buy, read, and discuss The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads

About the author, Pam Jenoff

Pam Jenoff is the Quill-nominated internationally bestselling author of The Kommadant’s Girl. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University and a master’s degree in history from Cambridge, and she received her Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania. Jenoff’s novels are based on her experiences working at the Pentagon and also as a diplomat for the State Department handling Holocaust issues in Poland. She lives with her husband and three children near Philadelphia where, in addition to writing, she teaches law school.

Connect with Pam

Website | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

I started reading this book late on a Saturday evening, and had weird dreams that night because I stopped at a particularly poignant scene. I spent the following Sunday immersed in the book, barely coming out of it to eat or give attention to my dogs.

First, I was hooked because I was practically born at the Jersey Shore, where the summer parts of this novel take place, and second, I was hooked because Adelia – Addie – is an Italian Jew, which isn’t something you see a lot in literature. We tend to think of all Jewish refugees as coming from Germany, Russia, and Poland, and forget that Hitler’s regime affected all of Europe.

History aside, I was soon drawn into Addie’s story, and her blend of intelligence and innocence. I really liked the way she began as a naif and ended up a strong woman, largely by her own making, but with the support of others, and while this was absolutely a period piece, and her choices were very much dictated by the constraints of the day, I feel this story would translate equally well to a contemporary setting because it tackles universal themes: growing up, coming of age, the endless battle between head and heart, and the choices we all must make between career and family.

I wasn’t ever in love with the character of Charlie – he seemed just a little weak to me at times, but dark and broody Liam intrigued me from the first. I love the way this boisterous Irish-American family of mostly boys took this Italian-American girl into their hearts, and made her, at times, a friend, a sister, a confidante, etc.

Overall, I found that the language the author used lent the book a lyrical quality reminiscent of my own childhood summers at the shore, where memories are veiled in gauze and you never get too close a look at them. I thought the story was well plotted, with some frustrating plot twists that paid off in the end, and well paced. Some of the descriptions were so cinematic that, at times, I felt like I was reading a Hallmark Channel movie (or maybe Merchant Ivory, but more likely the former). Someone buy the rights to this novel and film it, please?

If you want a summer read that has just enough meat to keep you satisfied, but isn’t so heavy you feel like drowning yourself, The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach would be a perfect fit.

Goes well with ham and cheese sandwiches (even though they’re not kosher) wrapped in waxed paper, deviled eggs, and slices of watermelon.

Giveaway

One reader (must live in US or Canada) will win a copy of the book The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach, and a limited edition beach bag (no beach required). To enter: Comment on this post telling me about a summer romance you had. Generic comments will be discarded. Alternative entry: Find my tweet about this book review in my feed (@melysse) and retweet it, making sure to let me know.

Entries close at 11:59 PM US Central time on Tuesday, August 11th. Winner will be notified by email (or twitter) before being announced on this blog. Winner’s name and mailing address will be forwarded to the publicist for this author for fulfillment.

One entry and one tweet per person will be counted.

Pam Jenoff’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, July 27th: Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, July 28th: Raven Haired Girl – review and guest post

Tuesday, July 28th: The Lit Bitch

Wednesday, July 29th: Bewitched Bookworms – excerpt #1

Thursday, July 30th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – excerpt #2

Saturday, August 1st: Romantic Historical Reviews – excerpt #3

Monday, August 3rd: Just One More Chapter

Monday, August 3rd: Books a la Mode – author guest post

Tuesday, August 4th: The Romance Dish

Wednesday, August 5th: Bibliotica

Thursday, August 6th: Mom in Love with Fiction

Monday, August 10th: Read Love Blog – author guest post

Tuesday, August 11th: West Metro Mommy Reads

Wednesday, August 12th: Let Them Read Books – Q&A or guest post

Friday, August 14th: Written Love Reviews

Monday, August 17th: A Chick Who Reads

Monday, August 17th: Luxury Reading – guest post

Tuesday, August 18th: A Novel Review

Wednesday, August 19th: Savvy Verse and Wit

Thursday, August 20th: A Literary Vacation

Friday, August 21st: Kritter’s Ramblings – Review and Q&A

Monday, August 24th: One Curvy Blogger

Tuesday, August 25th: The Reading Date

Wednesday, August 26th: Time 2 Read

Thursday, August 27th: Life is Story

Friday, August 28th: Bookshelf Fantasies

TBD: Lavish Bookshelf

Rainy Day Sisters by Kate Hewitt (@KateHewitt1) #review

3 August 2015 by Melissa

About the book, Rainy Day Sisters

Series: A Hartley-by-the-Sea Novel (Book 1)
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: NAL (August 4, 2015)

The USA Today bestselling author presents a heartfelt novel about two sisters struggling toward new lives and loves.

Welcome to Hartley-by-the-Sea in England’s beautiful Lake District, where two sisters who meet as strangers find small miracles tucked into the corners of every day….

When Lucy Bagshaw’s life in Boston falls apart, thanks to a scathing editorial written by her famous artist mother, she accepts her half sister Juliet’s invitation to stay with her in a charming seaside village in northern England. Lucy is expecting quaint cottages and cream teas, but instead finds that her sister is an aloof host, the weather is wet, windy, and cold, and her new boss, Alex Kincaid, is a disapproving widower who only hired her as a favor to Juliet.

Despite the invitation she offered, Juliet is startled by the way Lucy catapults into her orderly life. As Juliet faces her own struggles with both her distant mother and her desire for a child, her sister’s irrepressible optimism begins to take hold. With the help of quirky villagers, these hesitant rainy day sisters begin to forge a new understanding…and find in each other the love of family that makes all the difference.

Buy, Read, and discuss Rainy Day Sisters

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Goodreads

About the author, Kate Hewitt

Kate Hewitt is the bestselling author of over 40 novels of romance and women’s fiction, including The Emigrants Trilogy set in Scotland and North America, the Hartley-by-the-Sea series set in the Lake District, and Tales From Goswell written as Katharine Swartz.

She lives in England’s Lake District with her husband and five children. You can read about her experience as an ex-pat living in a tiny village on her blog, www.acumbrianlife.blogspot.co.uk.

Connect with Kate

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

My Thoughts

Rainy Day Sisters showed up in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago, sent by the publisher. At first, I was confused: had I signed up to do a tour of this novel? But no, it was just the publicist picking bloggers she thought might read/review. Well, this publicist chose wisely, because it’s exactly the kind of book I would pick to devour over afternoon coffee. It’s the kind of book I’d have been attracted to on the ‘new in trade paperback’ table at Barnes and Noble, if I ever went to physical bookstores anymore. (I MISS spending rainy weekends browsing through bookstores, finally ending up in the cafe, sharing a table with my husband as we each sink into a new read…sorry, I digress.)

In any case, this novel was full of delight. Lucy shows up on the doorstep of her sister’s – well, basically it’s a B&B – invited, but lost in the world. She’s an artist whose career was just tanked by her own mother, and her sister, Juliet, has invited her to come get a fresh start in her quaint English village.

At first, I was annoyed by both sisters – Lucy seemed to choose to be helpless and Juliet was far too prickly, but as I got to know the characters better, I realized they were much more than those initial impressions. Lucy is creative, plucky, outgoing and optimistic. Juliet is methodical, more introverted, almost compulsively organized. Together, they make a formidable pair as they work from being relative strangers to becoming true sisters, and also experience love, friendship, and belonging in the village itself.

Author Hewitt has a knack for dialogue, description and characterization, and I felt a really strong sense of place. The plot was well-paced and the story enjoyable. I would happily read more of her work, and even more happily spend a week or so in Hartley-by-the-Sea.

Goes well with hot tea, warm scones, and clotted cream, obviously.

Clownfellas: Tales of the Bozo Family, by Carlton Mellick III (@carltonmellick3) #review @tlcbooktours #giveaway

30 July 2015 by Melissa

About the book Clownfellas: Tales of the Bozo Family

Publisher: Hydra (July 14, 2015)
Sold by: Random House LLC

“Carlton Mellick III goes past silly, through weird, detours around dumb, blasts through bizarre, and gets to a place where the normal physics of narrative no longer apply. You will never be the same.”—Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother and Homeland

In a topsy-turvy world where clowns are killers and crooks, Little Bigtop is a three-ring circus of crime, and no syndicate is more dangerous than the Bozo family. From the wildly original mind of Carlton Mellick III comes the short-story collection ClownFellas—an epic mob saga where life is cheap and the gags will slay you.

For years, the hard-boiled capos of the Bozo family have run all of the funny business in Little Bigtop, from the clown brothels to the illegal comedy trade. But hard times have befallen the Bozos now that Le Mystère, the French clown Mafia, has started moving in and trying to take over the city. If that weren’t enough, they’ve got to deal with the cops, the Feds, the snitches, the carnies, the mysterious hit man Mr. Pogo, and the mutant clowns over in the Sideshow district. With the odds stacked against them, the Bozos must fight to survive . . . or die laughing.

Buy, read, and discuss Clownfellas: Tales of the Bozo Family

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads

About the author, Carlton Mellick III

Carlton Mellick III is an oafish gentleman with the stylishest of sideburns. He is one of the leading authors in the bizarro fiction genre—a booming underground movement that strives to bring weird, crazy, entertaining literature to the masses. Imagine a mixture of David Lynch, Dr. Seuss, South Park, and Troma movies. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Connect with Carlton

Twitter

My Thoughts

Publisher’s Weekly described Clownfellas: Tales of the Bozo Family as “Mario Puzo meets Barnum & Bailey” and that’s about as accurate a description as I can think of. Make no mistake about it, this collection of short stories is hilarious – clowns as gangsters? really?? – but it’s also dark, gritty, and disturbing.

In the world this book inhabits, Clowns are a kind of metahuman mutant, and each faction has different characteristics. The Bozo family is comprised of traditional American-style circus clowns, while other factions include the French Le Mystère (who are not, apparently, mimes, though I wouldn’t have been surprised if they were – a further tale, perhaps?) and deal with attacks from the Jugglers.

The author, Carlton Mellick III has taken every gangster trope and every clown trope mixed them up and come up with something fresh and fantastic (in all senses of the word). In one story a coulrophobic (coulrophobia is fear of clowns) veterinarian is dragged to Little Bigtop to save the life of Don Bozo’s pet lion. In another, a human Associate is resisting the serum injection (Happy Juice) that will turn him from Human to Clown because he’s terrified of becoming a statistic. In the universe of Clownfellas, it seems, one in ten people become Sideshow Freaks instead of true Clowns, and are sent off to fend for themselves in the Sideshow without rights or recognition.

(A part of me wonders if that one-in-ten number was just for convenience, or if it was chosen specifically because that statistic is a popular (if not necessarily accurate) representation of the segment of our population that is LGBT.)

Whether you read it for a deeper cause, or simply enjoy the sendup of every mafia movie you’ve ever seen, this collection of tales is entertaining and thought provoking: what is normal? What constitutes crime? Would we be better off if we really could kill someone with a C4-loaded pie to the face and guns that used lethal BANG! signs instead of conventional bullets? Is it true that all you really need in life is “…a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants…?”

Goes well with popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy, hot dogs, and beer served in a dangerously flimsy plastic cup.

Giveaway

This tour includes a Rafflecopter giveaway for a HYDRA mug and a copy of the book!

<a class=”rcptr” href=”http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/235babe7234/” rel=”nofollow” data-raflid=”235babe7234″ data-theme=”classic” data-template=”” id=”rcwidget_du4egdek”>a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>