Showing posts with label Book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book. Show all posts

Wednesday, 17 June 2020

Blog Tour: The Player Next Door by K.A. Tucker

So excited to be part of this Blog Tour for the newest book by my favourite author!!



From the international bestselling author of The Simple Wild and Ten Tiny Breaths comes a new second-chance, hate-to-love romance.

The Player Next Door by, USA Today bestselling author, K.A. Tucker, is now live!

Scarlet Reed has returned to Polson Falls, convinced that twelve years away is long enough to shed her humiliating childhood identity as the town harlot's daughter. With a teaching job secured and an adorable fixer-upper to call home, things in her life are finally looking up.

That is, until she finds out that Shane Beckett lives next door.

Shane Beckett, the handsome and charismatic high school star quarterback who smashed her heart. The lying, cheating player who was supposed to be long gone, living the pro football dream and fooling women into thinking he's Prince Charming. Shane Beckett, who is as attractive as ever and flashing his dimples at her as if he has done no wrong.

Scarlet makes it abundantly clear that old wounds have not been forgotten. Neighbors they may be, but friends they most certainly are not. She won't allow herself to fall for the single father and firefighter again, no matter how many apologies he offers, how many times he rushes to her aid, or how hard he makes her heart pound.

But as she spends more time with him, she begins to fear that maybe she's wrong. Maybe Shane has changed.

And maybe this time she's the one playing herself—out of a chance at true happiness.



Download today or read for free in Kindle Unlimited!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2B2QTuD
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/ThePlayerNextDoorKAT
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2YJOXRC

Excerpt:

I sigh as I sip the last of my cold, burnt gas station coffee. This is a fresh start, even in an old world full of familiar faces. Besides, it’s been more than a decade since I last roamed the halls of any school here. Those painful years and cruel people are far behind me.
The peaceful midday calm is disrupted by the chug of a garage door crawling open, followed by the deep rumble of a car engine starting. A long, red vintage muscle car backs out of the garage next door and eases into the open space beside a blue Ford pickup. I can’t tell what kind of car it is, but it’s old and in pristine shape, the bright coat of paint glistening in the August sun.
I never asked Iris about the neighbors. The two times I’ve been here—once during the open house and once after I’d signed the paperwork for the offer—nobody was home on either side. Both properties look well maintained, though. The bungalow with the muscle car has new windows and a freshly built porch off the front. There isn’t much in the way of gardens—some shrubs and trees—but the lawn is manicured.
I watch curiously as the driver’s side door pops open and a tall man with wavy, chestnut-brown hair steps out, his back to me as he fusses with his windshield wiper. Coffee pools in my mouth as I stall on my swallow, too busy appreciating the way his black T-shirt clings to his body, showing off broad, sculpted shoulders, muscular arms, and a tapered waist. He’s wearing his dark-wash jeans perfectly—not so baggy that they hang unflatteringly off his ass, but not so tight that cowboy boots and a wide-brimmed hat come to mind.
Damn.
I hold my breath in anticipation, hoping my neighbor will show me a beautiful face to match that fitness-model body. What a stroke of luck that would be, to live next to a gorgeous man. A single, gorgeous man, I pray.
Finally, my silent pleading is answered as he turns and his gaze drifts my way.
I struggle not to spew coffee from my mouth as my keen interest turns to horror.
Oh my God.
Someone, please tell me this is a mistake.
Please tell me I’m not living next door to Shane Fucking Beckett.

About K.A. Tucker:


K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge.

She is the USA Today bestselling author of 17 books, including the Causal Enchantment, Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series, He Will Be My Ruin, Until It Fades, Keep Her Safe, and The Simple Wild. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, First for Women, and Publisher's Weekly. She has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance 2013 for TEN TINY BREATHS and Best Romance 2018 for THE SIMPLE WILD. Her novels have been translated into 16 languages.

K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her family.

Connect with K.A. Tucker:





Thursday, 7 May 2020

Book Club: Rush

Rush: A Novel by Lisa Patton
Image via Chapters Indigo

Book: Rush: A Novel
Author: Lisa Patton

Set in modern day Oxford, Mississippi, on the Ole Miss campus, bestselling author Lisa Patton's RUSH is a story about women-from both ends of the social ladder-discovering their voices and their empowerment.

Cali Watkins possesses all the qualities sororities are looking for in a potential new member. She's kind and intelligent, makes friends easily, even plans to someday run for governor. But her resume lacks a vital ingredient. Pedigree. Without family money Cali's chances of sorority membership are already thin, but she has an even bigger problem. If anyone discovers the dark family secrets she's hiding, she'll be dropped from Rush in an instant.

When Lilith Whitmore, the well-heeled House Corp President of Alpha Delta Beta, one of the premiere sororities on campus, appoints recent empty-nester Wilda to the Rush Advisory Board, Wilda can hardly believe her luck. What's more, Lilith suggests their daughters, both incoming freshman, room together. What Wilda doesn't know is that it's all part of Lilith's plan to ensure her own daughter receives an Alpha Delt bid-no matter what.

For twenty-five years, Miss Pearl-as her "babies" like to call her-has been housekeeper and a second mother to the Alpha Delt girls, even though it reminds her of a painful part of her past she'll never forget. When an opportunity for promotion arises, it seems a natural fit. But Lilith Whitmore slams her Prada heel down fast, crushing Miss Pearl's hopes of a better future. When Wilda and the girls find out, they devise a plan destined to change Alpha Delta Beta-and maybe the entire Greek system-forever. 

Achingly poignant, yet laugh-out-loud funny, RUSH takes a sharp nuanced look at a centuries-old tradition while exploring the complex, intimate relationships between mothers and daughters and female friends. Brimming with heart and hope for a better tomorrow, RUSH is an uplifting novel universal to us all.

What I have to say:
This books was recommend forever ago by Kathleen from Carrie Bradshaw Lied. I purchased this book as soon as Kathleen recommended it and add it to my To Be Read pile. I FINALLY got around to reading this book!! Set in 2016 at Ole Miss we are introduced to a variety of women- all associated with Alpha Delta Beta Sorority in one way or another. The characters are well developed, layered, and interesting. The characters felt real, relatable, and like real people you could know, and in some cases, want to be friends with. This book is about so much more than Sorority Rush, or Sorority life. It addresses race and socioeconomic issues, female and family relationships. 

Final Verdict:
Full of heart and humour, I've already recommended this book to people, and I can't wait to read it again. 


Tuesday, 11 February 2020

Book Club: Mrs.

Mrs.: A Novel by Caitlin Macy
Image via Chapters Indigo

Book: Mrs.
Author: Caitlin Macy

In the well-heeled milieu of New York's Upper East Side, coolly elegant Philippa Lye is the woman no one can stop talking about. Despite a shadowy past, Philippa has somehow married the scion of the last family-held investment bank in the city. And although her wealth and connections put her in the center of this world, she refuses to conform to its gossip-fueled culture.

Then, into her precariously balanced life, come two women: Gwen Hogan, a childhood acquaintance who uncovers an explosive secret about Philippa's single days, and Minnie Curtis, a newcomer whose vast fortune and frank revelations about a penurious upbringing in Spanish Harlem put everyone on alert.

When Gwen's husband, a heavy-drinking, obsessive prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office, stumbles over the connection between Philippa's past and the criminal investigation he is pursuing at all costs, this insulated society is forced to confront the rot at its core and the price it has paid to survive into the new millennium.

What I have to say:
Beautifully written and loved the depth of the characters- so many characters each with their own stories and layers. This is a talented author! As for the plot...I read the entire book and I have no idea what it's about! The summary above does sum up the book in a way...having read the book and the summary, I can say 'yup, I see that'. But when reading the book, if I hadn't known the summary...well, I would have summarized it differently. The books is mostly about mother's who children attend the same pre-school. Two mothers- Gwen and Philippa knew each other during their childhood. They hangout with new mom at school, Minnie. Gwen and her husband Dan knew Minnie's husband John in college.John also knew Philippa before she married her husband. By the end of the book, not only did I not have a clear idea what this book is about, but there are a ton- TON- of unanswered questions. 

Final Verdict:
If you are looking for a nicely written book and/or characters that are well developed, and you have zero interest in whether or not there is a plot- I would recommend this book. If you need your books to have a plot that you can follow, give this book a pass.

Thursday, 9 January 2020

2019 Book Club Reading List

Over the past 4+ years, I have been in a Book Club with some friends from high school. I love being in a book club and the variety of books and authors we read throughout the year. Here is the list of books that we read in 2019.

January: Becoming by Michelle Obama. This was my pick and I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. Interesting read and I definitely was more interested in the parts that dealt with Barrack's political career, where as my book club was more interested in the rest of the book and thought the political parts were boring.  

February: Bossypants by Tina Fey. Another book that I didn't love as much as I thought I would. I'm Tina Fey fan and I thought this book would be a lot funnier than it was- common thought among my book club. 

March: The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. This was such a good book and a must read. This book hits so close to reality with police killing unarmed African Americans. The book follows Starr from the night of the shooting of her best friend through the aftermath. 

April: The Cry of the Dove by Fadia Faqir.This book follows Salma's journey of living in the middle east, going to jail to protect her from an honour killing, the immigration and assimilation of her life in England, and her longing to be find out about her daughter.

May: The Girl: Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch, and the Birth of an Unlikely Feminist by Michelle Morgan. Marilyn Monroe is the most famous women ever, but few people know about her influence in Hollywood that arguable changed the studio star system. This book focus on her career and how she took it back and led the way for other starlets. My review can be found here.

June: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. A.J. Fikry is a widowed bookstore owner and each chapter starts with him recommending a book. The book ends up relating to the plot point of that chapter. This was a cute, quick read and one I really enjoyed. 

July: Unwanted by Kristina Ohlsson. A little girl goes missing and the search to find her reveals a connection between other missing children. 

August: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. High school friends are spending spring break in Aruba, when one of them- Elise- gets murdered, and Anna and Tate are arrested for the murder. Throughout the books we learn how the friends know each other, the complexities of Anna and Elise's friendship, and whether or not Tate and Anna are innocent. My review can be found here.

September: Pick Your Own Book- September is the anniversary of our book club, so we decided to do something a little different this month. Each member got to pick what book they wanted, and then would share their thoughts of the book with everyone else at our September meeting. I read The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood. Ava joins a book club after her husband leaves her. As the book goes on, we learn the importance of the book Ava chooses for her book club to read.Ava's daughter Maggie is living in Paris and goes missing. We learn about Ava and what she gets up to while in Europe. 

October: Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty. Long time friends Erika and Clementine, along with their husbands and Clementine's children, head to a BBQ at Erika's neighbour's house. Something happened that puts a strain on Erika and Clementine's friendship, and we learn why everyone feels guilty.   

November: Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. A group of women travel to Area X as part of a mission. The women are to explore the area and record their findings. One by one, the women leave the mission- for various reasons and circumstance. 

December: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. Mother Bernadette goes missing and daughter Bee is on a mission to find out where she went, what happened to her, and bring her home. My review can be found here.

My top three books that we read in 2019:
  1. Dangerous Girls (August)
  2. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (June)
  3. Where'd You Go Bernadette (December) and The Book That Matters Most (September)

Tuesday, 7 January 2020

Dreams and Colour Reading List

Below you will find a master list of all books mentioned on this blog and my Instagram.

Most Recent:

Book Club List- Books Read By My Book Club



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Tuesday, 10 December 2019

Book Club: Christmas Shopaholic

Image via Goodreads
Book: Christmas Shopaholic
Author: Sophie Kinsella

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas. It's always the same – Mum and Dad hosting, carols playing, Mum pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the next-door neighbours coming round for sherry in their terrible festive jumpers.

And now it's even easier with online bargain-shopping sites – if you spend enough you even get free delivery. Sorted!

But this year looks set to be different. Unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocado, Becky's parents are moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch and have asked Becky if she'll host Christmas this year. What could possibly go wrong?

With sister Jess demanding a vegan turkey, husband Luke determined that he just wants aftershave again, and little Minnie insisting on a very specific picnic hamper – surely Becky can manage all this, as well as the surprise appearance of an old boyfriend and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear . . .

Will chaos ensue, or will Becky manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas?

What I have to say:
I have always been a fan of Sophie Kinsella and the Shopaholic series!! If you are familiar with the series, it's the same loveable Becky finding herself in one situation/mix up/miscommunication after another- as she usually does. We follow her as she prepares to host Christmas for the first time, while trying to keep everyone happy. Love that this book was centered around the holidays and that Kinsella gave us a story that is (mostly) relatable and characters we know and love. 

Final Verdict:
I have yet to meet someone who is not a Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood fan. This book was classic Becky and a must read for any fan of the series. Also recommended for anyone looking for a lighthearted Christmas read.