Halfway Hexed

Some days it doesn't pay to be a witch, even one with malfunctioning powers. 

Back of the Book
Pastry-chef-turned-unexpected-action/adventure heroine Tammy Jo Trask is finally ready to embrace her mixed-up and often malfunctioning magic. Too bad not everyone wants her to become all the witch she can be. First, there are the local residents who form a scripture-spouting posse and kidnap Tammy to “defend” Duvall against witchcraft. Next, someone saddles her with a secret package chock full of dangerous visions, just as the president of WAM—the World Association of Magic—arrives with his entourage to investigate her. And who worse to examine Tammy’s entanglement with off-limits and drop-dead gorgeous wizard Bryn Lyons than his ex-girlfriend? Not to mention that the clash between the locals and the magical visitors leads to a series of unnatural disasters that may doom them all. Will Tammy Jo's magical synergy with Bryn be enough to help her save the town or will her enemies succeed in putting Tammy out of commission for good? One thing’s certain: this would-be witch is ready to rumble, Texas style…

My Thoughts
Halfway Hexed is third in the Southern Witch series and I have to tell you it's not the best of the three. Not to say it's bad by any means but the first two were much stronger- much more entertaining. As a reader, you'll want to start with the first, then make your way to the latest installment.

Look I'll be frank 80% of the time I had no idea exactly what was going on. She's kidnapped. She escapes by pulling off a feat that is physically impossible. She's kidnapped again. The Witch council is in town. There's some mystery surrounding the dead relatives. The town is determined to burn Tammy Jo as the witch she is. I think I'm going to put the book down and go take a nap.

However just as I'm about to write this off as a complete piece of drivel, Kimberly Frost rallies, pulls her head out of wherever it was residing and finishes with a flourish that makes me think I need to go back and re-read the book because anything that ends this well can't be all the bad. Maybe. Or maybe I'll pick up the newest Deborah Coonts and move on.

From one kidnapping to the next it's hard to keep track of all the people who want to do away with poor Tammy Jo. The religious nuts in town think that if they somehow make the witch disappear the town's problems will get whisked away. The Witch council is determined to take over the town. The ancestor's don't want Bryn and Tammy Jo to co-habituate.

I'm bummed. I loved the first two. This one is lukewarm at best. Please, please Ms. Frost pull it out for the next one.

By zoerights with No comments

Slate

For the last twenty years Vivien Slate has run an incredibly successful casting agency in the heart of Hollywood. She's cast some great movies in the past but mostly these days it's independent art films. Although she's reached success in her profession,  has a wonderful son, a great home and a not-so-wonderful husband, Vivien is bored with her life, craving a little excitement. When she discovers her husband cheating- an idea is born. Instead of casting for some unknown director- this time she is going to put all her creative juices to work- casting a new man in her life.

Back of the Book:
Hollywood casting director Vivien Slate thought she had it all, until coming home one day to find her husband cheating on her with a younger woman. With her marriage on the rocks, she decides it's the perfect time to recapture her sexual identity... by finding a younger man of her own. Vivien realizes she has a dating service right inside her own office--she's a casting director, after all. She devises a scenario to make the town believe her newest film project is as real as any other. She populates the cast with male characters spanning the ages of twenty to forty and begins holding auditions for hundreds of Tinseltown's most eligible bachelors. Vivien stops at nothing to find her perfect younger man, even it it means leaving her morals behind and ultimately putting her life in danger.

My Thoughts
They say don't judge a book by it's cover but you know we all do. I have to admit I don't even pull a book off the bookstore shelf unless there is something that grabs my attention- the color, a graphic, an interesting title, the description on the back.

Based on the description, the cover, the graphic of this book, I was expecting a light-hearted romp through the world of movie casting. I was expecting a middle-aged woman emotionally mistreated by her husband, who runs out and finds a younger man to assuage her abused feeling and to hep her rediscover her youth. A cross between How Stella Got Her Groove Back and well seemingly every other chick-lit book on the shelves these days. What I got was something vastly different. Not bad, just not what I was expecting.

Everything as described above really happens. Vivien get screwed over by her husband and by the urging of a friend decides to find a boy-toy and then it gets weird.

For the sake of full disclosure I have to tell you I've never hated a main character more than I did Vivien Slate. Between her violence, her conceit, her violence, her narcissism, her violence, her utter and complete disrespect of everything and everyone- by the end of the novel I was actively praying for her death. I've never been more disappointed to see a happy ending in all my life. I wanted her to suffer. I mean really suffer. Suffer deeply. Chuck Palahniuk style of suffering. Yet she doesn't. For all her bad behavior, she succeeds, time and time again. Well, perhaps that's the true morale of this tale. The meek don't always inherit the earth.

Slate is gritty, perhaps realistic view of the world of casting movies; it's not pretty, sunshine and light-hearted, it's dark, self-serving and more than just a little vulgar. Vivien is the ultimate anti-heroine. She'd be the perfect fit for The Housewives of just about anything.

Brian Rowe is going to be an author to watch. I think with a great editor at his hip, he has the potential to be this generation's Sidney Sheldon. But this style of writing, the oohy, gooey feel good chick-lit- not his style. One thing needs to change-either the marketing to fit the book or the book to fit the marketing.

You can also find Brian at mrbrianrowe.blogspot.com or on Facebook.

Disclaimer: Brian Rowe was kind and provided a copy of the book. But as always I'm my own woman.

By zoerights with 1 comment

Book Giveaway: Win a copy of Heads You Lose

Hey, did I casually mentioned Lisa Lutz came to Sacramento to talk, answer questions and generally get gawked at? No, you don't recall? Hmmm. Sorry about that. But she did and I got to see her.

I have to make two comments about the event.

1. Barnes and Noble never plans appropriately for these things (or may just not in our area) I haven't been to a signing yet where I think great job B& N. Either 2/3rds of the audience is left to stand or in my case jump and generally try to shift until I can see around the unusually tall gentleman who is right in front of me. ALWAYS. Or I can't hear a thing. Don't they want people to come? Really what's with stashing author's in the kid's area? The kids area- for crying out loud?

2. Lisa Lutz is nothing like I imagined. AT ALL. Not bad, not good. Just does not match my internal picture of what I imagined she looked like.

I did forever walk away with an autographed copy just for one of my very lucky readers. I also read a copy of the book and will post my thoughts later in the week.

Giveaway:
A copy of Heads You Lose- signed by both Lisa Lutz and David Hayward. 


If you're not lucky enough to be one of our winners but still want to pick up a copy,  you can find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any other major bookseller. 

To Enter:
If you've read any of The Spellman's- comment on your favorite character and why. If not what's your favorite off the wall book of all time?

Bonus Entries: These are Optional
1. Subscribe to my blog by email/RSS.
2. Follow my blog.
3. Like me on Facebook- this is worth five extra entries- Hey don't judge. I'm desperate for friends.
4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet the giveaway.

Leave a comment for each one you do- you have to complete the first or all of the bonus entries won't count! Winner will be choosen by Randon Number Generator.

Giveaway ends on May 1, 2011 at 11:59 pm PST. Winner will be selected by random.org and notified by email and will have 48 hours to reply back before a new winner is selected. Please remember to leave your email address if it is not attached to your profile so I can contact you if you win. Good luck!

Disclaimer: All reviews on zoereads.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780399157400
ISBN-13: 978-0399157400

By zoerights with 4 comments

Falling Home

"“Love isn’t about sacrifice. It’s about meeting each other’s needs — it’s about companionship.”

Revised and modified, Karen White's novel tells the story of Cassie White and her relationship with her estranged family. Falling Home is a stereotypical traditional coming home story. Cassie ran from her Southern home as fast she could to New York City. There she built a pretty satisfying life with an active career, an intelligent boyfriend and a great apartment, until news of her father's death made her return to the home she hasn't seen in over twenty years.

Back of the Book:
At twenty Cassie Madison left her hometown of Walton, Georgia, for New York City, where she has reinvented herself-from losing herself in her career to squashing her accent. But one night a single phone call brings back everything she's tried to forget. She hasn't spoken to her sister since Harriet stole Cassie's fiancée; and married him. But now Harriet's on the line with news that their father is dying.

As she makes the trip back, the only thing that frightens Cassie more than losing her father is seeing Harriet and the family that should have been hers. But she can't help loving her nephews and nieces any more than she can help feeling at home again in Walton. As she fights a surprising reaction to a forgotten friend, and faces an unexpected threat to the family she'd once left behind, Cassie comes to realize that moving on doesn't always mean moving away from who you are.

My Thoughts:
If I have any criticism, it's in White's use of the clichéd dying-of-cancer-go-to storyline. What? We can't have a drama without someone dying of cancer, someone getting molested or the kidnapping of a child? Don't get me wrong. All of the those things are truly horrific. Please don't think I'm belittling someone's pain. But authors- Really? Seriously? That's all you have? In your huge vat of imagination?  I feel like I'm watching an episode of House- yelling IT'S LUPUS, IT'S LUPUS.

I feel like a disappointed Jewish mother watching her brilliant yet quirky child drop out of medical school to pursue a career in finger-painting.  I was hoping for a woman who reconnected with her family. One who dealt with a real struggle of finding home. I could connect with a character who struggles between the life of her youth and the life she's carved out as an adult. Everyone knows the struggle of wanting to be in two places at once. Hell, Reece Witherspoon was just in a pretty successful movie about that topic just a few years ago- a movie that's on repeat on the local channels at least once a week. So it must be a storyline that resonates with people. Or else we all just like Reese Witherspoon so gosh darned much. Hmm, quandary.

Not to say it wasn't enjoyable. These types of stories do well for a reason. I just felt she could have done so much more with Falling Home.

White is an incredible story writer- her descriptions make the reader remember what it's like to be a child.

"Cassie was dreaming again. It was of old summers; the summers of bare feet, skinned knees and homemade peach ice cream that dripped down her chin and made her fingers sticky. Aunt Lucinda rang the supper bell, and Cassie and Harriet raced each other past the gazebo toward the back porch, their sun-kissed legs pumping under white sundresses. The jangling of the dream-bell seemed so real, Cassie felt she could touch the cold brass and make it stop."

-Source: Falling Home, Karen White 

Which is probably why her fluffy plot line annoyed me so much. 

Long time fans of Karen White and fans of Southern fiction will love the book. Others may find the characters just a little too one-dimensional. Either way it's a good book for the plane or to read as you're watching the kids play in the pool. 

By zoerights with No comments

Icebreaker

Adam Perry plays hockey the way it's supposed to be played; swiftly, efficiently and with the hardest of hits. When one of his body checks lands an opponent in the hospital, Adam is charged with assault by a prosecutor with an election to win. His team hires Sinead O'Brien to defend his case. It's Sinead's job to get to the truth so she can properly defend her client, but the more she digs, the more she really starts to like the self-contained althlete

Back of the Book:
Good thing high-powered attorney Sinead O' Brien has a rule about never dating clients. Because Adam Perry, the newest star of the New York Blades-and her newest client-has her headed for the penalty box. If only she could prove he's just another jock... Adam's been charged with assault after a borderline hit on another star player, but off the ice he's a private, no-nonsense guy who knows the Blades are his last shot at Stanley Cup glory. Assembling her case, Sinead tries not to get distracted by Adam's dazzling good looks or strong work ethic, but she quickly discovers that there's a wounded man under that jersey, and she's starting to fall for him-hard. Now Adam's having trouble focusing on the goal with Sinead in his sights. And Sinead is tempted to break her 'no dating clients' rule. Can they play on their newfound feelings without penalties?

My Thoughts:
I can't remember the last time I read a book where I really liked the main characters so much. Just because Adam is quiet doesn't mean he isn't a good guy. On the ice he plays an old-school type of hockey- hard, brutal, with no mercy. But off the ice he's considerate, supporting his family and home town best friend. Hockey his job, nothing personal.

“How did you feel when you saw what your hit did to Mr. Clarey?”


Adam looked baffled. “How did I feel?”


“Let me rephrase that,” said Sinead, since feel clearly wasn’t a word he was comfortable with. “What did you think?”


“I felt sorry when I saw he was hurt. I hoped his injury wasn’t severe. That was never my intent. But I knew it was a clean hit. We’re professional hockey players. He was doing his job. I was doing my job. End of story.”

Sinead gets a lots of grief from her loud but loving Irish family. They can't understand her work, work, work lifestyle. When's she going to settle down, find a man and have some babies?

Deidre Martin's last few books have quite frankly been a snooze. I was ready to chalk her up as another one note wonder, incapable of stepping out of her comfort zone. With Icebreaker Martin has rediscovered her story telling roots. With characters who genuinely seem to like each but aren't willing to set aside their ethics for a quick roll in the hay. Martin uses the attraction the between the two to build up the tension till the final climax at the end. No pun intended. Well maybe just a little.

By zoerights with No comments

Lisa Lutz is coming to Sacramento!!!!!

While I probably shouldn't be telling you this because I desperately want to be the first  person in line but Lisa Lutz is coming to Sacramento!!!!


If you don't know Lisa Lutz- you should be ashamed, deeply ashamed. Just kidding. Like Janet Evanovich? Then you will LOVE Lisa Lutz. Because she's less redundant and the family is just as much fun.

Lucky for us Lisa has a new novel out. Well, one she wrote with some guy. I'm reserving judgement until I actually meet him and see how the book goes.

Address:Arden Faire
1725 Arden Way
Sacramento, CA 95815

Not in Sacramento? Go here for further Tour Dates.

Back of the Book:
From New York Times–bestselling author Lisa Lutz and David Hayward comes a hilarious and original tag-team novel that reads like Weeds meets Adaptation.

Meet Paul and Lacey Hansen: orphaned, pot-growing, twentysomething siblings eking out a living in rural Northern California. When a headless corpse appears on their property, they can’t exactly dial 911, so they move the body and wait for the police to find it. Instead, the corpse reappears, a few days riper ... and an amateur sleuth is born. Make that two.

But that’s only half of the story. When collaborators Lutz and Hayward—former romantic partners—start to disagree about how the story should unfold, the body count rises, victims and suspects alike develop surprising characteristics (meet Brandy Chester, the stripper with the Mensa IQ), and sibling rivalry reaches homicidal intensity. Will the authors solve the mystery without killing each other first?

By zoerights with 1 comment

How Sweet It Is

In a split second, Dante Shepard made a mistake, one that changed his life and the life of a young woman forever when he ran that red light. Now he's wracked by guilt; not able to taste food, work or sleep. All he can do is try to make up his momentary lapse of attention one that cost Candy's mother her life. But Candy won't accept his help or his remorse. When he hears a local waitress wish for a handyman- he volunteers to help her out.

Lizzie Carpenter knows all about mistakes. Long ago she made the mistake of sleeping with the wrong person. Now the father of her teenage child wants to meet his daughter for the very first time. Between taking care of the ever disintegrating home and worrying over her child, Lizzie reluctantly accepts Dante's offer of help.

Back of the Book: 
Single mom Lizzie Bea Carpenter learned long ago that no white knight was coming to save her. A hardworking waitress at the local diner, she's raising her daughter to be like the independent women in her "Enemy Club"--high school rivals turned best friends, promising to always tell each other the whole truth and nothing but! Yet part of Lizzie wishes she did have a man's help, just for small stuff, like fixing up the house. Her fairy godmother must have been listening, because Dante "Tay" Giovanni soon appears. He's sexy, kind, and offering assistance--no strings attached. Slowly, steadily, Lizzie's heart opens. But the grip of the past is fierce, and nothing in life is ever really free. Tay has his own tragedies to overcome, but if he can, he'll fix more than Lizzie's home. He'll show her just how sweet it is to be loved by him.

My Thoughts: 
If I had to pick a favorite character/storyline in this book, I'd have to say it was Dante's. Who hasn't been in the position where they weren't paying attention for a scant second and they miss some catastrophic event by a hair. Although the law deemed her death an accident, poor Dante is so wracked by guilt that he can't go back to his life until he somehow can make reparations. He just wants to in some atone for his actions and no one will let him. The law won't arrest or punish him. Candy won't accept his apologies or help."I'm starting to see I won't ever be able to make that up to them. ...People hate help from the people who wronged them." He's stuck in a never-ending limbo of guilt and remorse.

The relationship between main character Lizzie and her teenage daughter is so accurate one must assume the author must be pulling from a real-life scenario. Daughter Paige just wants to buy into the fantasy of the perfect dad. One who swoops in and saves them all of a life of struggle and poverty. He'll be rich of course and exciting and wonderful. Lizzie is bound and determined to protect her daughter from what she views as a potentially dangerous situation. After all he left once. How exactly can she guarantee he won't do it again.

With all this drama going on, it's a wonder the two main character can find the time to get together. Yet they do somehow manage. It's only through their relationship that Dante begins to forgive himself and Lizzie begins to relax.

There are some minor characters and subplots throughout the novel. Some which add to the storyline- the sister is struggling with some pretty serious postpartum depression and feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Some which aren't so good. All in all How Sweet It Is delivers exactly what it promises, a sweet romance between two characters who've been knocked around by life.      

By zoerights with No comments

Big Girl

Honestly I haven't picked up a Danielle Steel in years. I was quite frankly surprised to find new Steel books on the shelf.  One would think she would have retired by now.

Heroine Victoria is the ugly duckling born to the fairy princess family. She's too big, too plain and too loud to ever fit in with the beautiful and sleek Dawson clan. Worse she's told she's too big, too loud and too plain- all the time.

Back of the Book:
A chubby little girl with ordinary looks, Victoria Dawson has always felt out of place in her family, especially in body-conscious L.A. While her parents and sister can eat anything and not gain an ounce, Victoria must watch everything she eats, as well as endure her father’s belittling comments about her body and see her academic achievements go unacknowledged. Ice cream and oversized helpings of all the wrong foods give her comfort, but only briefly. The one thing she knows is that she has to get away from home, and after college in Chicago, she moves to New York City. Landing her dream job as a high school teacher, Victoria loves working with her students and wages war on her weight at the gym. Despite tension with her parents, Victoria remains close to her younger sister, Grace. Though they couldn’t be more different in looks, they love each other unconditionally. So when Grace announces her engagement to a man who is an exact replica of their narcissistic father, Victoria worries about her sister’s future happiness, and with no man of her own, she feels like a failure once again. As the wedding draws near, a chance encounter, a deeply upsetting betrayal, and a family confrontation lead to a turning point.

My Thoughts:
Look everyone knows you're going to hit it out of the park every single time you perform. Don't baseball players average a hit like 30% of the time. Authors are no different. You can't be as prolific a writer as a Danielle Steel and not have a stinker or twelve. One of two things could have possibly happened with this book. Either as many people suspect- she's having someone else write her books now or she tried to tackle a topic she knows nothing about and fell on her face.

Big Girl should have been fantastic. The subject matter was one we all like to read about. Poor little overweight girl is abused by her family until she finally takes control of her life and emerges the winner. But it wasn't fantastic- it was terrible. Thank God this wasn't Steel's first book- she never would have had her wonderful career.

Family's one-dimensional. The storyline is repetitive, monotonous and vaguely condescending.  Truly the book would have made more sense had she rolled the timeline back 25 years. In the fifties, sixties and even early  seventies it would have been believable that her mother went to college only to land a man. I didn't think people even played bridge any longer. Certainly not people under the age of 65.

I think probably was the most disappointing aspect of the book was the shallowness and weakness of the main character. Despite the many years of counseling, she never grows emotionally, never comes into her own as a person. You want Victoria to succeed, to stand up for herself, to stand up to her parents. She never does. Here she is - a smart, successful woman with a great education, job, apartment in New York, and awesome friends and everything is always Woe is Me, I'm Fat. I hate to tell you this but even fat people are happy sometimes. I assume or else we'd have a lot less fat people in the world. Victoria never once deals with any of her issues. Instead she gets a nose job and then a new boyfriend. Who stands up for her at a family event. Yeah- rescued by a man- lovely messaging there. Way to roll back the woman's movement by about 40 years.

Hey- can you tell I didn't like this book? I know-subtle.

By zoerights with 1 comment

A Light At Winter's End

Hannah always had to be the perfect daughter for their demanding mother. Perfect grades. The right clubs. A demanding career. The perfect husband followed by the perfect baby. Holly, never quite good enough in their mother's eyes stopped trying. She decided to go her own way and pursue her music songwriting career. Working temporary jobs during the day and writing at night, her career is just starting to take off. Then their mother dies and everything changes.

Back of the Book:
Hannah has always done everything right: getting married, having a baby, caring of her mother in her final days, all the while performing impeccably in a high-level job. Her sister Holly is the college dropout, the one who works at a coffee shop and wants to be a songwriter. Then one day perfect Hannah suddenly--without explanation--leaves her baby with Holly and disappears. What Holly knows about babies is laughable, but she takes little Mason to the empty family homestead, where she meets Wyatt Clark, a close-mouthed, handsome cowboy who is mysteriously good with babies. And then, just as Holly can no longer imagine her life without either Mason or Wyatt, Hannah returns for her son...

My Thoughts:
Some pretty serious issues between the two covers of what should have/could have been a fluffy romance novel. To be frank that's what I was expecting. A light touch on the main issues and straight to the romance. While I don't mind that type of book, this was an incredible surprise. These are two characters- well three if you include Wyatt Clark, the hero, are struggling with some serious issues.

Hannah, after caring for her ailing mother, working a high stress job, dealing with infant Oscar and a philandering, cheating ass of a husband, finally cracks under the pressure. First she starts drinking and soon moves to her mother's pain pills. Only when she finally hits bottom, does she turn to her sister. Showing up in the middle of the day, she dumps baby Oscar on Holly with no explanation other than she's going to be gone for awhile.

Holly suddenly finds her already chaotic life turned completely upside down by something she never expected and never planned for. She soon moves from her unsafe city apartment to her mother's country home and there she meets equally damaged Wyatt. After being dumped by his wife, Wyatt retreated to his ranch, determined to never again let anyone in.

Very easy to put yourself in the shoes of any of the characters. Hannah just wants to get well and have her baby back. Holly loves the baby with all her heart and is unsure if she can turn the little guy over to a known drug addict even if it is her little sister. Poor Wyatt has lost the love of his life and was publicly humiliated all in one breath. Yet he finds it in himself to let Holly in bit by bit until she worms her way into his whole heart.

This book is at equal measures heartbreaking and wonderful. Just like life there are no easy answers. Yet the ending more than enough makes up for the emotional roller coaster. Pick it up- it will surprise you.

By zoerights with No comments

That's (Not Exactly) Amore

Laini is bound and determined to get through design school. It may not exactly be her forte- after all she gets the worst marks in the class- but she will finish. Period. It's not like she doesn't like designing for other people-it's just that she's not very good at it. So when  Nick Pantalone asks her to redesign his coffee shop, it's a job she just can't refuse particularly as she needs to do a good job to graduate. Even if that means fighting with Nephew Joe every single step of the way.

Back of the Book:
When Laini Sullivan lands a job designing Nick Pantalone's coffee shop, there are two problems: one, Nick's nephew Joe hates all of her ideas and two, Laini has to admit he's right--she's a disaster at design. Still, she can't risk losing the job. To compromise, Joe brings in help on the project, while Laini continues to bake the goodies that keep his customers lining up. Their relationship is moving along, so when new guy Officer Mark Hall implies that Joe's family is tied to the mob, Laini doesn't want to believe it. But things spin out of control when she meets the family, including "the uncles," who seem to confirm Mark's suspicions. To make things worse, Nana Pantalone makes it clear Laini isn't the kind of girl she has in mind for her grandson. Laini's not sure if she should give Joe the benefit of the doubt or just set her sites on Mark and fuhgetaboutit.

My Thoughts:
Laini is confused, at a place in her life where she isn't quite sure where her passions lie. She can tell you it certainly isn't interior design but she's determined to get through and graduate. Who hasn't been in that position? As a reader you want to both shake her and hug her at the same time. She's confused and frustrated trying to find her place in the world, take care of her widowed mom and survive day-to-day living.

Through her baking she truly excels but for some reason doesn't see it as her career despite people all but climbing over themselves for a sample of her tasty treats. In other words Laini is just like many of us. She's real. Doesn't always make the right decisions  but always tries. Laini has to successfully create and oversee the remodel to pass her last final. Here we met Nick Pantalone and nephew Joe. Joe seems to like Laini but never really makes his move. Despite Laini's attraction to Joe, she agrees when neighborhood Officer Mark asks her out. I have to admire that quality in a woman, the ability to not wait around for Mr. Right to make up his mind.

If I have any compliant - the book is slow. Baby turtle crawling through molasses slow. Dear god, Ms. Bateman...pacing, pacing, pacing. I could walk away with little effort and after awhile it was harder and harder to go back. The attraction between the nephew Joe is fun at first but when it just doesn't go anywhere...readers lose interest. Well I lose interest. Short attention span- what can I tell you? I like a little romance mixed in with my chick-lit. Even if the chick-lit is also Christian based. Christians like love and romance too- or so I'm told. Officer Mark is kind of a jerk but truly the perfect foil for the bland Joe. Readers  will root for him simply because he isn't Mark.

That's (Not Exactly) Amore is a perfect by-the-pool book. Doesn't require much from the reader and will entertain to the very end.

By zoerights with No comments

Leave it to Cleavage

Miranda's biggest plans for the day were to play a little tennis and plan the annual Guild Ball, it certainly wasn't to find pictures of her now missing husband dressed up in women's lingerie with another woman's hand on his behind. Nor did she ever suspect he'd cleared millions out of her family business. If anyone found out hundreds of people would be out of work. So it's up to her to save the day and potentially hundreds of jobs.

Back of the Book: 
Miranda Smith was searching for a stamp when she discovered how good her ex-football player husband looked in ladies’ lingerie. Even worse, she found out her two-timing, cross-dressing “ladies’” man had run off, leaving her and her family’s hundred-year-old bra business teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. It’s up to Miranda to keep everything under wraps until she can rescue the company. But when Blake Summers, the town’s all-too-attractive police chief, starts asking questions, it’s going to be all she can do to stay in the underwear business while everything about Blake is charming her out of hers. Something’s got to give, and Miranda is determined it won’t be her—no matter how hot the temptation is to bare it all.

My Thoughts:
Pleasantly surprised. As I turned the last page, those were the two words floating through the think grey matter I call a brain. This book was pleasantly surprising good. I'll be honest I wasn't expecting much from the whole I've discovered my husband is a cross-dresser, this gives me permission to do whatever I want  storyline. Miranda is a great character, one who realizes her life has been pretty wasteful up till the moment everything fell apart but is willing to pick up the reins and do what needs to be done. She's a take life by the horns kind of person but still true to her self.

Sure it's a feel good romance- you know Miranda and Blake will end up together in the end but Leave it to Cleavage definitely leaves you guessing along the way.

By zoerights with No comments

First Grave on the Right

Better to see dead, than be dead.

                                              -Charlotte Jean Davidson, Grim Reaper

Charlotte "Charlie" Davidson is a Private Investigator by day and a Grim Reaper all the time. To the dead, she's a shiny beacon of hope and they flock to her like flies to...well you know. Lately she's been having nocturnal visits of the dirty kind by someone she thinks she knows.

Back of the Book: 
A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper. Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to go into the light. But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely.

My Thoughts:
Should be required reading for all future Grim Reapers or fans of early Laurel K Hamilton, with a mix of Lisa Lutz and Janet Evanovich. Every once in a while you'll find an author that makes you squeee in excitement (No that wasn't meant to be dirty- you perv) think more early fans of the Beatles. This was it- let's face it...it's been desert dry out there for new fantastic authors. I've been hitting the well of recycled authors for so long, the bucket's hit dirt. Finding this new wonderful author will keep me going for a while- keep the endorphins flowing so when I get to work and that co-worker that normally sets my teeth on edge starts up- I can go to my happy place. My -at least I found a new author-place.

What I really like is that she has the next two books in the series written already...Second Grave on the Left due out in August 2011 and Third Grave Dead Ahead.

If you can't wait until these come out- you can go to her website. You'll find short stories, deleted scenes, excerpts from upcoming novels. Really can't wait? Go to Heroes and Heart breakers.com for an original short story featuring my newest favorite heroine.

By zoerights with No comments

Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA

With her young son off in college, Addy Lipton is suffering from the almost thirty year itch. Luckily the 30 year itch doesn't require one to buy a sports car or meet dashing silver haired gentlemen in divy bars. But it does force one take a good hard look at their life and wonder "What the Hell Happened?" and "Is this what I want for my life?"

Back of Book:
After twenty-eight years of marriage to her husband Lucky, Addy Lipton feels anything but happily married. In fact, just thinking of their garage, filled to the brim with Lucky's useless junk collection, drives Addy dangerously close to plowing her car through it. But when Lucky wins a trip to paradise--aka Costa Rica--Addy has a faint hope they may be able to turn things around. Or maybe they won't. Either way, Addy never gets the chance to find out.  On the morning of their departure, Lucky fractures his back tossing their luggage into his truck. Now, with the man she feels she barely knows anymore parked indefinitely on her couch, Addy can't see their already shaky relationship surviving much longer. It's time to make some big changes--and some drastic choices.  

My Thoughts:
I've certainly been in Addy's shoes. You're in a relationship for a longtime. Certain small little things start to bug you. The oil stain on the driveway. If only that oil stain on the driveway wasn't there. If your spouse loved you, they'd get rid of that oil stain. Pretty soon you're awake in the middle of the night, imaging all the ways you could get rid of that oil stain. Then resentful...Doesn't he understand? Why doesn't he do something about that oil stain. He's not getting rid of that oil stain, he must not love you. Then suddenly you're on a beach in Mexico chatting up the Lothario in the pool bar and wondering how the hell you got divorced after years of marriage.

Well not exactly but you get my meaning. Poor Addy knows she's not happy. She just not sure what to do about it. between fixating on her husband's flaws and imaging driving the car through the bane of her existence (the garage) she doesn't really take the time to figure it out until she reaches her breaking point. Searching for Paradise in Parker, PA ia a novel of discovery, her to found yourself...after marriage, after kids, after career. To re-discover what it means to be person in your own right. 


Well I enjoyed the basic premise, I felt much of the novel simply being sad for the poor husband. He is basically at heart a good guy who has little idea he's done anything wrong and he basically get railroaded the entire book. All I could think the entire time- "Why did they just not talk to each other?" 


People who've been in a marriage for a long-time will certainly be able to relate to Addy plight. Those who haven't been lucky enough to find the spouse of their dreams will probably simply want to slap her upside the head. 

By zoerights with No comments

How to Bake the Perfect Life

Ramona Gallagher is having a rough time of it. Her 41st birthday is steadily approaching. Her twenty-something married, pregnant daughter is racing to Germany to be with her injured military spouse and leaving Ramona with a 13 year old step-daughter she's never met before. Worse Ramona's bakery business is slowly sliding downhill.

Back of the Book:
Professional baker Ramona Gallagher is a master of an art that has sustained her through the most turbulent times, including a baby at fifteen and an endless family feud. But now Ramona’s bakery threatens to crumble around her. Literally. She’s one water-heater disaster away from losing her grandmother’s rambling Victorian and everything she’s worked so hard to build. When Ramona’s soldier son-in-law is wounded in Afghanistan, her daughter, Sophia, races overseas to be at his side, leaving Ramona as the only suitable guardian for Sophia’s thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, Katie.


My Thoughts: 
Perhaps it's because I can relate so well to Ramona's plight but I really enjoyed this. No, I'm not a baker (cook-hah) but I am quickly approaching my fortieth birthday and will have grown children capable (although I hope not too soon) of marrying and baring babies. Yikes. I think my life flashed before my eyes as I re-read that last sentence. Still worried about finding the perfect partner. Still working at my passion every single day. Wait was it me the author wrote about?

Although Ramona is surrounded by interesting and entertaining secondary characters and sub-plots, she remains very much so at the nucleus of this story. She's a character women can identify with. Here, we are adults and yet most of us still feel as though we're in our late twenties with more crow's feet. Still worried about many of the same things. Falling in love. Taking care of our families. Finding a passion to work at every single day. Taking care of ourselves. Still wrestling with our pasts, our decisions. While many of us weren't pregnant at fifteen- I can still think of many mistakes any one of us still regrets from those tumultuous times.

How to Bake a Perfect Life is heart-felt and wonderful and quite frankly everything you want in a perfect book.

By zoerights with 1 comment

If You Were Here: A Novel

Did you know Jen Lancaster has a new book out? 

As you know Jen is the voice of our generation. Ok- not really. But she is really funny and snarky and wonderful and I love her writing almost as much as Belgium chocolate but way more than bunnies.

What are you waiting for? Go buy it!!!!

By zoerights with No comments