Giveaway and Spotlight of All The Best People by Sonja Yoerg

Join me in welcoming Sonja Yoerg!!

ALL THE BEST PEOPLE by Sonja Yoerg 

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All information below is courtesy of Danielle Dill and Penguin Random House

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Overview: 

An intricately crafted story of madness, magic and misfortune across three generations from the author of The Middle of Somewhere and House Broken... 

Vermont, 1972. Carole LaPorte has a satisfying, ordinary life. She cares for her children, balances the books for the family’s auto shop and laughs when her husband slow dances her across the kitchen floor. Her tragic childhood might have happened to someone else.

But now her mind is playing tricks on her. The accounts won’t reconcile and the murmuring she hears isn’t the television. She ought to seek help, but she’s terrified of being locked away in a mental hospital like her mother, Solange. So Carole hides her symptoms, withdraws from her family and unwittingly sets her eleven-year-old daughter Alison on a desperate search for meaning and power: in Tarot cards, in omens from a nearby river and in a mysterious blue glass box belonging to her grandmother.

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An exploration of the power of courage and love to overcome a damning legacy, All the Best People celebrates the search for identity and grace in the most ordinary lives.

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Author:

Over the last few years, Sonja Yoerg’s name has become synonymous with quiet family drama that spans generations.  With her debut House Broken, Yoerg studied the emotional effects of an alcoholic mother and family secrets. Last September, Yoerg explored a troubled, young widow who hiked the wilderness to elude her shameful past in The Middle of Somewhere. Now, in her upcoming novel. Yoerg examines three women’s search for identity and the power of family legacies.

A haunting exploration of courage and love to overcome a shameful legacy, ALL THE BEST PEOPLE celebrates the search for identity and grace in the most ordinary lives.

Sonja Yoerg has been hailed as “on par with established women’s fiction authors such as Jennifer Weiner and Sarah Pekkanen” (Library Journal) and ALL THE BEST PEOPLE only builds on that reputation. 

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Giveaway:

USA ENTRIES ONLY!!

May 4 - May 11

Enter Here 

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I Found You by Lisa Jewell

What happens when there is a single woman with three children, a man who doesn't know who he is, a newly married woman who just moved to town, and a family who might have a connection to them at some point?

Alice, Lily, and "Frank" are connected but don't know they are.

Alice invited "Frank" inside her home when she saw him sitting on the beach.

Lily's husband has disappeared and has no clue what happened to him or if she even knows who he is.

"Frank" doesn't know who he is.

I FOUND YOU has odd, dysfunctional, and mentally ill characters but flows well and has a story line that grabs you.  I liked the back and forth in time and the back and forth between the three main characters. 

As you read you know something is wrong all around. Someone just doesn't disappear, end up back where they may have been as a child, or be in some place a crime had taken place.

Ms. Jewell weaved in a great deal of suspense, intrigue, edge-of-your-seat tension, and a whole lot of I don't want to stop reading in I FOUND YOU even though some chapters were literally frightening and became more frightening as the book continued.

The secret of it all led to an ending with a marvelous twist and surprise.  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

The Baker's Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan

THE BAKER’S SECRET takes us to a small village in Normandy during WWII.   We follow Emma, her family, and the village as they live under the restraints of German occupation.  The village citizens work together to stay alive and to help each other.

Emma is a very strong female character that you can't help but sympathize with and fall in love with.  She is someone you would love to have had in your village during WWII.

Emma's strength and subtle resistance to the Germans was amazing.  Emma knew how to be subversive and still stay alive.
 
Emma's role in helping to save the residents of her town was to follow the Kommandant's order to bake bread for him and his men every day.  

Emma had a secret about baking this bread.  She would sneak in two extra loaves to share with the townspeople by stretching the number of required loaves by two.

THE BAKER'S SECRET shows the unity the Europeans had to have in order to survive.

The characters were authentic, and you will become immersed in their lives and suffer with them as well as silently cheer with them when the courage they share turns into a triumph.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE BAKER'S SECRET.  The writing is marvelous and detailed.  The book is one you won't want to put down. 

If you read only one book this year, make it THE BAKER'S SECRET.   

THE BAKER'S SECRET is a wonderful testimony and tribute to the people who lived through and survived WWII.  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

The Forever Summer by Jamie Brenner

Secrets, mistakes, and revelations abound in THE FOREVER SUMMER.

We meet the Bishop family with members having secrets from the past as well as the present.

We also meet family members that were not known to exist.

THE FOREVER SUMMER brings together an unknown half sister, a grandmother, and memories of a father the sisters never knew.

The generations of women and how they connected as strangers was wonderful, and the beach setting was perfect for the connections and story line.

THE FOREVER SUMMER was filled with character disappointments, but it was also filled with love and making family connections and approval very enjoyable.

I enjoyed the characters....especially Grandmother Amelia.  Amelia made everything pleasant and made everything and everyone come together. 

THE FOREVER SUMMER was an enjoyable read and filled with what women do best when they are together....nurture and care for each other. 

A heartwarming beach read...ENJOY when you get to read this book.  4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review. 

GIVEAWAY of FLIGHT PATTERNS, BLOG TOUR, and REVIEW of The Night The Lights Went Out by Karen White

A new town, a new home, a friend you really don't want, a blog that tells the town's gossip, and Merilee has to deal with all of this along with her divorced husband and his pregnant girlfriend.

Living in Sweet Apple, Georgia, seemed like a good town to start over and for the most part it was.

Merilee was renting a house on the property of the town's oldest citizen, Sugar Preston.  Sugar was portrayed as anything but sweet, but actually she was.

Merilee and Sugar became friends and shared stories from Sugar's childhood that made sense as to why Sugar was the way she was.

Sugar and quite a few town residents had secrets, and now that Merilee arrived in town, the anonymous blog writer had more ammunition for her daily posts and Southern sayings. 

As Sugar knew, there were more people in this town that had better stories than Merilee had.  Sugar's past was a soap opera in itself and filled with stories but no one dared to tell them except Sugar herself and many stories were told for the first time to Merilee.

Totally and completely enjoyed the characters and the story line of THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT.  Sugar was very lovable, Merilee was sweet, and I didn't like Heather from the minute I met her. 

Readers of women's fiction will again be transported back to the days of Southern ​hospitality and then brought back to current day with women who keep secrets and have everything and like to flaunt it.

Ms. White has done it again with a marvelous story filled with wonderful characters with Southern charm​.  If you have ever read any of Karen White's books, you will love this book just like all of her books and not want to put the book down. 

I have LOVED all of Ms. White's books, but this has to be my all-time favorite. 5/5​

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

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GIVEAWAY OF FLIGHT PATTERNS

USA Entries

April 25 - May 2

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CONTEST HAS ENDED.
Thanks to everyone who entered.
The winner is:  Susan #4
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REVIEW LINK IS IN THE BOOK'S TITLE. 

The Widow of Wall Street by Randy Susan Meyers

Phoebe always was a girl who loved her books, and she found a husband who also loved his books, but a different kind than Phoebe loved.  Phoebe loved her school books, Jake loved his books that showed his money growing.

Phoebe married Jake at a young age, and Jake said he would always take care of her.  Jake's parents had been in some sort of trouble, and Phoebe's mother never liked him.

THE WIDOW OF WALL STREET follows Phoebe and Jake from their teenage years, through the years of marriage, and through the crisis ranging from 1960 to 20​10.

As Jake​'​s empire grew, Phoebe became dragged in as well, but only by talking up her husband's business and how well it was doing. 
 
The years went by, and Jake made money, but he was in over his head most of the time.  When Jake's empire tumbles, Phoebe, the loyal, compliant wife, tumbles with him. 

Readers who enjoy women's fiction, drama, and a strong female character will enjoy this book.

Ms. Meyers' marvelous writing pulls the reader into the high stakes of Wall Street, the power and lives of the wealthy, and reminds us of the saying:   “Money is the root of all evil.​“

I enjoyed THE WIDOW OF WALL STREET along with its tense moments and a truly thoughtful ending.  

ENJOY if you read this book.  5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

The Cutaway by Christina Kovac

Cameras, cameras, cameras....you never know when you may be on one or in a recorded news clip.
 
Virginia Knightly was the only female news person in her office…an office that seemed to be falling apart.  They needed a big story, and the new boss wasn't helping hold it together.
 
Virginia got demoted, and then a new face appears.  This new face takes the position of another of Virginia's friends on the news staff.
 
All this is happening while a huge news story about the murder of a high profile lawyer is taking place.  

Everyone is fighting for news, and a lot of people including the police force, politicians, and even the press were not being up front and honest about everything.  Meanwhile Virginia took on things she really shouldn't be doing alone.
 
THE CUTAWAY takes us into the world of TV news bringing out all the hard work and investigation reporters and newscasters do.
 
The characters are marvelous and so well developed that you can actually visualize them and consider them "real" people that you may even know. 

The story line held my interest and slowly but cleverly led you to the end along with many guesses as to who had "done it" without my actually guessing correctly.

An excellent debut that slowly drew the reader into the meat of the story line, gave hints to something bigger, and kept me reading.  4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.