Book Binge

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The premise of The Council of Dads by Bruce Felier really caught my attention. I'm an absolute sucker for uplifting stories like this one. The idea of a dad asking men he knows and respects to step in and be there for his daughters in the case he can't be just grabs my heart.

Bestselling author Bruce Feiler was a young father when he was diagnosed with cancer. He instantly worried what his daughters' lives would be like without him. "Would they wonder who I was? Would they wonder what I thought? Would they yearn for my approval, my love, my voice?"

Three days later he came up with a stirring idea of how he might give them that voice. He would reach out to six men from all the passages in his life, and ask them to be present in the passages in his daughters' lives. And he would call this group "The Council of Dads."

"I believe my daughters will have plenty of opportunities in their lives," he wrote to these men. "They'll have loving families. They'll have each other. But they may not have me. They may not have their dad. Will you help be their dad?"

The Council of Dads is the inspiring story of what happened next. Feiler introduces the men in his Council and captures the life lesson he wants each to convey to his daughters--how to see, how to travel, how to question, how to dream. He mixes these with an intimate, highly personal chronicle of his experience battling cancer while raising young children, along with vivid portraits of his father, his two grandfathers, and various father figures in his life that explore the changing role of fathers in America.

This is the work of a master storyteller confronting the most difficult experience of his life and emerging with wisdom and hope. The Council of Dads is a touching, funny, and ultimately deeply moving book on how to live life, how the human spirit can respond to adversity, and how to deepen and cherish the friendships that enrich our lives. 

 Doesn't that sound sweet? I don't think it'll be light reading, but I'm looking forward to it all the same.

I have two copies of this book to giveaway. If you're interested, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m. Sunday, May 2 and you'll be entered to win!

This book is available from William Marrow. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Rowena's review on Nothing But Trouble by Rachel Gibson.

Hero: Mark Bressler
Heroine: Chelsea Ross

From the Publisher:

Trouble . . .

Chelsea Ross's acting career has been a total bust. The closest she ever came to stardom was her brilliant performance as "Pretty Dead Girl #1." But leaving Hollywood to become the personal assistant to a famous hockey player could be her stupidest career move ever.

More trouble . . .

Injured superstar Mark Bressler's glory days are over. The bad-boy ex-jock could at least be civil to the pint-sized, pink-haired bombshell who the Seattle Chinooks hired to be his P.A. If Chelsea didn't need the money, she'd be running from the world's biggest jerk as fast as her feet could carry her.

Big trouble!

Chelsea can deal with Mark's rotten attitude and dark moods. The problem is those biceps and that red-hot bod! And when the bad boy starts to put the moves on her, Chelsea knows it's time she banished him to the penalty box . . . if only she could resist the kind of trouble he has in mind!

I’m a huge contemporary romance fan and Rachel Gibson is one of my favorite contemporary authors. Her hockey books are always such a fun way to spend a few hours and she never disappoints. I’m happy to say that she did another fabulous job writing Mark Bressler’s story.

Mark was in a horrific car accident that has ended his hockey career. Instead of being happy that he’s alive, he can’t help but feel bitter that his chances for winning the Stanley Cup with his team are gone. Slowly, that bitterness is eating him up until the Chinook’s organization send Chelsea Ross into his life.

Chelsea Ross is Mini Pit’s twin sister. Mini Pit works in PR for the Chinooks and she’s like a mini pit bull, always working on something and always business. Chelesa on the other hand is the carefree sister who is pursuing an acting career in Hollywood but has only been able to land jobs as the slutty sorority girl in horror films. She’s the ultimate scream queen but she wants to do more serious roles and she wants to be a serious actress. It’s hard to do that when she’s got huge knockers and that’s all anyone ever sees. After a disastrous end to an assistant job in L.A. she takes her sister up on being the assistant to a recovering hockey player who isn’t nice.

Chelsea needs the job but she wants the bonus money even more. She has some serious plans for that bonus money and she’s not going to let a surly hockey player keep her from getting it so she plunges her way into Mark’s life and the sparks start flying.

Mark isn’t happy about Chelsea any more than Chelsea is happy about Mark but watching Chelsea bulldoze her way into Mark’s life was so much fun. I enjoyed watching these two fall in love. I loved Mark’s standoff attitude and Chelsea’s take no shit from anyone, including Mark’s attitude and I loved when she won over his team mates.

This book was a cute and fun book with a sweet romance that only Gibson can write. She had me all caught up in the romance between Mark and Chelsea. I couldn’t help but want them to get it right every time they got it wrong and I just enjoyed the hell out of this book.

Mark was a great contemporary hero. He wasn’t this perfect, I’m better than everyone and I know it kind of heroes. He was one of those broken men that needed a new purpose in life and wasn’t happy about it. Mark went from being the leader of the Chinook’s who was on the fast track to leading his players to a Stanley Cup win to a broken man who literally had to teach himself who to live as a disabled person. He had to depend on everyone for every little thing and he hated being dependent on people. He detested it but with Chelsea’s help, he got over it and he got over himself and I adored him.

Chelsea was a fantastic heroine, she was a go getter kind of heroine and I enjoyed getting to know her. She was exactly what Mark needed in his life and I loved that she was just this normal woman. She wasn’t this foxy model who always did the right thing, she was just like me and I adored her for it.

My one gripe about this book is the cover. I don’t know who that heroine is on the cover of this book but it’s not Chelsea. Chelsea wouldn’t have worn that outfit. Her clothes were brighter and much louder than that outfit and it just didn’t fit her personality. Other than that, I adored this book and can’t wait for another RG release.

Ooh, there are some recurring characters from previous books in this one and as always, I loved it! Rob Sutter, goodness it’s been so long since I’ve read about him makes an appearance and man was it good to catch up with him and Kate.

Would I recommend this book? Heck yes!

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here.

Rowena's review of Truly Madly by Heather Webber.

Hero: Sean
Heroine: Lucy Valentine

Lucy Valentine is as smart as can be, as single as you can get, and so not qualified to run a matchmaking service. But when her parents temporarily step down from the family business, Valentine, Inc., it’s Lucy’s turn to step up and help out—in the name of love.

Plus, her rent is due.

Here’s the problem: Lucy doesn’t have the knack for matchmaking. According to family legend, every Valentine has been blessed by Cupid with the ability to read “auras” and pair up perfect couples. But not Lucy. Her skills were zapped away years ago in an electrical surge, and now all she can do is find lost objects. What good is that in the matchmaking world? You’d be surprised. In a city like Boston, everyone’s looking for something. So when Lucy locates a missing wedding ring—on a dead body—she asks the sexy private eye who lives upstairs to help her solve the perfect crime. And who knows? Maybe she’ll find the perfect love while she’s at it…

I’m not sure what to think about this book. It took me no time at all to read this book and I did enjoy it but it’s not exactly a book that I’d highly recommend. The story as a whole was just okay. The characters were just okay for me and while I did end up liking it, I didn’t exactly love it. I mean, I kept reading because I kept wondering if the book was going to get better and then once it finished, it was really easy for me to put this book down and then pick something else up, forgetting this book entirely.

Lucy Valentine comes from a family with paranormal gifts. Her father runs a matchmaking company because he can read auras and he matches couples up by the color of their aura. Her whole family has been gifted with this gift…except her. She’s the only one that can’t match couples to save her life. She can’t see aura’s because she’s got her own special power…she can locate things. She can locate physical things. Like if you lost your wedding ring, Lucy can find it for you or if you’ve lost your favorite sweater, Lucy is your girl. She feels like her power is a curse because she can’t work at the family business because she’s so bad at matching people up.

Outside of that, her family is extremely wealthy and dysfunctional. Her parents have an open marriage because a divorce would be bad for the family business considering that they’re in the business of matching up couples and all. Now, when Lucy’s father has a heart attack while on vacation, she has to step up to the plate and take over the company while he takes a doctor prescribed vacation. Another one, where he doesn’t get caught having sex on the beach with one of his bimbo mistresses. He takes a vacation with Lucy’s Mom and they disappear, leaving Lucy alone at the helm of the family business.

Lucy doesn’t want to do it because she knows that she sucks at putting people together but she does it anyway because she’s a good daughter. After meeting with one of her first clients, she comes across a missing wedding ring that her client gave to his long lost fiancé and thought was lost forever. Lucy sees the wedding ring on a skeleton finger and that is where the story takes off. She’s on this quest to find the missing wedding ring (well she knows where it is but she has to figure out how to get there, dig up the grave and then do whatever comes next) and help comes in the form of Sean, the sexy ex-firefighter who is sitting in for his brother, running his PI business.

Watching these two get together was cute. I really enjoyed getting to know Sean, I wanted to know more about him but because this was told in first person from Lucy’s point of view, we didn’t get much of that. I don’t often want more from the other characters in these kinds of stories but I did want more from this one. I was mighty intrigued by Sean’s character and I wanted to know what he was thinking during some of the antics that Lucy found herself (and dragged him) into.

The story as a whole was a great introduction to I guess what is to become the Lucy Valentine series and I’m curious enough to want to read more to see if I’d end up liking the series more and more but my one main gripe with this was Lucy’s desire to be independent and make her own way in life. Maybe that’s a noble endeavor but your family is beyond rich, you have a trust fund that you refuse to touch and you’re two months behind rent…what are you thinking not touching that money? I’m struggling my damn self and if my parents had a trust fund for me just sitting in the bank, waiting for emergencies to be spent…you best believe I’d be touching that mess.

But other than that, not a bad way to spend a few hours but not the best either.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

This book is available from St. Martin's Press. You can buy it here.

Last year Kris Kennedy's debut release, The Conqueror, was one of my favorite reads. I even listed Kris as one of my favorite authors of the year. I've been anxiously awaiting the release of her second medieval, The Irish Warrior.

As his men are slaughtered around him, legendary Irish warrior Finian O'Melaghlin is held captive by the despised English Lord Rardove. Struggling to break free, Finian finds aid from an unlikely source: the beautiful Senna de Valery, who is also trying to escape Rardove's bloodthirsty grasp. Risking both their lives, Senna releases Finian from his shackles so they can both flee, but their plight has just begun...

Seeking safe refuge, Finian and Senna have only each other to depend on for survival. Neither can deny their immediate attraction, but indulging their desires will put them both in grave danger. Finian vows to protect the woman who saved his life, but he soon learns she is a pawn in a much larger battle. For Senna has an unbreakable link to a priceless treasure many centuries old. It is the stuff from which dreams are made and for which men will kill - and not even Finian may be strong enough to save her.

Y'all, this book is set in Ireland. The hero is Irish. Yeah, that's what I said, too. It was so awesome finding a book set in a different time period and country than what's normally on bookstore shelves. As impressed as I was with The Conqueror, I was afraid The Irish Warrior wouldn't stand up..but it did. The setting and characterizations were both richly drawn. I adored it.

Kris was kind enough to offer an ARC for us to giveaway.  

Leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m., Saturday, May 1st, telling us if you've read Kris's debut, The Conqueror, and why or why not, and why you want to read Irish, and you'll be entered to win the ARC. I'll mail your prize Monday, May 3rd and you should have the book almost a month before the release date.


Trying to decide if you want to read it?  Go check out an excerpt! (I love this part!)

The Irish Warrior will be available from Zebra on June 1, 2010. You can pre-order it here.

PS..The Conqueror is only $3.99 at Amazon!



ETA: If you don't win the ARC but you still want a copy of Irish, you can pre-order it from The Book Depository for $5.24, with free world-wide shipping!

PPS..sorry, I kind of got a little carried away with the exclamation points there...heh

Casee's review of In Shelter Cove (Angel's Bay series, Book 3) by Barbara Freethy.

The theft of three priceless paintings sent Derek Kane to prison and destroyed the dreams of his wife, Brianna. When Derek unexpectedly dies just weeks before his release, Brianna returns to Angel's Bay with her young son, determined to prove her husband's innocence and find the missing paintings. Her efforts are stymied by Jason Marlow, the police officer who sent Derek to jail -- betraying his former friend. And when unexpected passion flares between Brianna and Jason, she must choose between the past and the present, the guilty and the innocent, the truth and the lies. For nothing is what it seems ...

This series has gotten better with each book. In every book, we learn more about Angel’s Bay and what led to its birth. I found the prologue of this book particularly disturbing. It was from the point of view of one of the shipwreck survivors and his despair over the woman he lost is palpable. As an artist, he is determined to immortalize her on canvas. Then his beloved paintings are stolen, which is the segue to the present day story.

Brianna has always been steadfast in her belief that her husband Derek was innocent of the crime he went to jail for. When Derek dies only weeks before he’s scheduled to be released, Brianna finds herself at a crossroad. All she wanted was to be married to Derek and raise their son together. That’s no longer an option, so Brianna packs herself and her son up and moves to Angel’s Bay so they can be closer to Derek’s parents.

Jason Marlow was Derek’s best friend. He was also the man whose testimony put Derek behind bars. Jason thoroughly investigated the art theft and the only probable suspect was Derek. Jason ran into Derek as he was coming out of the museum that the paintings were stolen from. Case closed. When he learns that Derek died in prison, Jason is devastated. Especially for Brianna.

Brianna is dismayed to realize that Jason is house sitting for her new next door neighbor. The more Jason tells her how he’s convinced of Derek’s guilt, the more Brianna is determined to prove his innocence. As she begins to dig into Derek’s life before he married her, Brianna realizes how little she knew her husband.

As she begins to see Jason more and more, she is more and more attracted to him. The attraction appalls her because of who he is. This is where I lost respect for Brianna. I understood that she was afraid that she would lose the only family (her in-laws) if she got involved with Jason. What annoyed me is that she continually blamed Jason for doing his job. She was embarrassed to be seen with him which just made her weak in my eyes.

Eventually Brianna grew a spine and stuck by Jason, but it was too long in coming. I loved Jason, though. He is what made this book so good. Oh and I also figured out who did it. I’m getting better.

3.75 out of 5.

This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here.

The series:

Tracy Wolff's newest contemporary (or contemporary erotica as I like to call it) is out and it's hawtness. Today Tracy is here to talk about where Tease Me takes place.

When I sat down to write this blog, I was unsure of what I wanted to write about—or how I wanted to write it. But as I started thinking about Tease Me, my third erotic suspense from NAL and the third book to be set in and around New Orleans, I decided that I wanted to write a little about the Big Easy itself—and what it was like to come of age there and to write there.

New Orleans is a city for artists and for those who love art—of all kinds. In the four years I lived there while going to graduate school, I spent more time than I could ever imagine listening to music—at clubs and the world famous jazz festival, on the streets and at small, impromptu gatherings. I learned the names of jazz greats and the music of brand new artists destined to be great. And I stood on street corners feeding dollar bills into hats and Coke cans and guitar cases as I listened to the sounds of the streets.

I roamed Jackson Square, with its huge statue of Andrew Jackson and its borders of the Cathedral on one side and Descartes on the other, spoke to the street artists there and filled up my small, one bedroom apartment with black and white sketches and glorious watercolors of the New Orleans of the past—and the present.

And I wrote. God, did I write. There was something about that city that made me more prolific than I’ve ever been (except for maybe write now). I sat in Café du Monde, drinking café au lait and eating beignets and penning tales of life and love. I wandered down Bourbon Street to Jean Lafitte’s Old Blacksmith Shop, the oldest building in the French Quarter and where all the writers liked to write, and sat for hours sipping cranberries and vodkas and writing my heart out—more than once next to New Orleans’s most famous writer, Anne Rice. I scoured the old bookstore on Pirate’s Alley for rare and exciting tomes that would inspire my writing—and my imagination.


I spent four years in New Orleans. It’s the city where I finally grew up, where I turned 21, where I fell in love, where I got married, where I had my first child, where I got my graduate degree, where I got my first short stories published, where … There are very few of my important firsts that didn’t happen in this city.

So as I wrote Tease Me, a story of the darker side of New Orleans, I worked hard to capture some of the Crescent City’s style and grace. I tried to capture a little bit of its elegance along with its gritty reality. I can only hope I’ve succeeded.

How about you? What city has influenced you the most in your life? I’m giving away a copy of Tease Me, so comment for a chance to win.

We're going to add in an additional two copies to keep with our three year birthday. Leave a comment to Tracy's question to be entered!

Casee's review of Tease Me by Tracy Wolff.

Burned once too often, true crime writer Lacey Richards has sworn off love. Instead, she explores her deepest desires through her anonymous- and very provocative-blog. Anonymous, that is, until her dark and ultrasexy neighbor discovers her dirty secret. Stockbrocker-turned-carpenter Byron Hawthorne gave up life in the fast lane, hoping to start over in a new city. When he learns his alluring neighbor is the one writing the sizzling blog that keeps him up all night, he can't resist offering to fulfill her fantasies in the flesh. But Byron isn't the only man provoked by Lacey's writing. Now Lacey doesn't know who she can trust-and who she can dare to tease.

I really liked the first book I ready by Tracy Wolff, but didn’t really care for the next one. Tease Me could have gone either way. I was immediately pulled into the story b/c Byron is hawt. He’s exactly the type of hero that I love reading about. He is obsessed with a woman that writes an anonymous blog that catalogs all her sexual fantasies. In fact Byron is so obsessed with the nameless, faceless woman that he feels possessive of her. Totally crazy. What made it okay (even though it is crazy) was that Byron knew it was crazy.

Byron and Lacey’s first encounter is something they’ll never be able to tell their children about. Their first sexual encounter is explosive and leaves both of them feeling strangely satisfied. Lacey is wary of getting involved with someone like Byron. Only recently has Lacey gotten out of a relationship where she was treated like a child. Told what to do, what to wear, and what to say, Lacey has vowed that no man will treat her like that again.

Byron is naturally dominant and is confused by Lacey’s reactions to certain situations. When he finds out why she is reacting like she is, he’s at once relieved and annoyed. Relieved that it’s nothing specific to him, but annoyed because she’s lumping him in with her ex.

While Byron and Lacey are having their not-exactly-a-fling, Lacey is researching a book she’s writing about prostitution in New Orleans. This really took a backseat to the romance in the book. Lacey is sure there is some sort of cover up happening, but she’s not sure what is being covered up. She does know that kidnapped girls keep turning up dead in the city. For some reason she doesn’t put two and two together; if she finds out what it is, she’ll be in just as much danger.

Lacey unknowingly attracts the attention of the man that has a heavy hand in the deaths. This part is where it kind of lost me. After one look at Lacey, this man is obsessed with her. In his mind, Lacey is already his. When he finds out that she had a relationship with her neighbor, he is furious that she would stoop to a mere carpenter, but vows that he’ll punish her for it. Instead of sinister, it just seemed stalkerish. It had the potential to be more, but it wasn’t. The way that Lacey was rescued in the end happened much too fast for me.

3.75 out of 5.

This book is available from NAL. You can buy it here.

Holly's review of Moon Awakening (Children of the Moon, Book 1) by Lucy Monroe

An enthralling new romantic tale that pushes the boundaries between love and hate, passion and pain-and man and beast...


When Emily Hamilton's family is ordered to send a woman to the Scottish highlands for marriage to the laird of the Sinclair, Emily volunteers in order to save her younger sister from such a fate. But at her new home, the only friend she finds is the laird's sister-especially after Emily's stubborn streak causes the laird to cancel the marriage. And though her plans have gone awry, she refuses to return home...


Lachlan Balmoral is laird of his clan-and leader of his pack. One of the most feared werewolves prowling the Highlands, he is on the march against the hated Sinclair, who have abducted a Balmoral woman. He kidnaps the sister of the Sinclair laird, planning to marry her off in revenge-but the woman he takes along with her proves to be the greater prize...


For Emily feeds a desire he has never known existed. And though Lachlan would not think of touching his enemy's betrothed, he must know how a mere woman could tame his heart so easily...

I picked this up to re-read before starting Monroe's latest release in the series, Moon Craving. While I enjoyed it overall, I didn't love it as much this time around.

Emily's father angers his king by sending only a small contingent of soldiers to him upon his request - the barest minimum - based on the advice of his wife. As punishment, the king demands that he send one of his daughters to the highlands to marry, Talorc laird of the Sinclair's, a warrior there. His wife pleads with him to send Emily's younger sister. Emily offers herself instead, hoping to save her sister.

She doesn't know what to expect once she arrives, but it isn't the brooding, angry man she's supposed to marry. Unable to hold her tongue, she angers Talorc into breaking off the engagement almost immediately. Shortly thereafter she's kidnapped as revenge against him.

Lachlan plans to kidnap Talorc's sister to avenge the honor of his own sister, who was taken by a member of the Sinclair clan. He isn't expecting to also kidnap his enemy's betrothed, however. Which is what the bewitching woman claims to be. He isn't entirely convinced, however. Or perhaps he just doesn't want to be, for he's powerfully attracted to her.

The inconsistent way Emily acted in the beginning really bothered me. She was very wishy-washy about her feelings for Lachlan. She hated him and thought him a complete barbarian, yet melted when she fell against his touch or was seared by his hot gaze. I found myself becoming impatient with her, wanting her to just decide already. Once they reached Lachlan's home I found Emily to be much more likable.

Once I got past the first few chapters my enjoyment grew and I really fell into the story. Lachlan and Emily really complimented each other. She was stubborn and fierce, which seemed to fascinate and amuse Lachlan, but also kind and tender, which was something he needed. He, in turn, took care of Emily in a way she hadn't realized she needed.

I enjoyed the latter half of the book quite a bit, but the earlier chapters marred my overall enjoyment. I'd still say it was a good read but not as good as the first time I read it. Although I prefer Moon Craving, the second book in the series, I'd still recommend this.

3.75 out of 5

The Series:



This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here.

Yesterday Book Binge turned 3! Pretty amazing, isn't it? To celebrate we're doing a full week of giveaways. Today we have 3 copies of Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald.

To her millions of fans Molly Ringwald will forever be sixteen. As the endearing and witty star of the beloved John Hughes classics Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, Molly defined teenage angst, love, and heartbreak. While remembered eternally as the enviable high school princess Claire, or the shy, vulnerable Samantha, Molly Ringwald actually just celebrated her 40th birthday! Facing a completely new, angst-inducing time in her life, she is embracing being a woman, wife, mother of three, actress, and best friend with her trademark style, candor, and humor—and now offers her personal stories and practical advice in the full-color, lushly illustrated GETTING THE PRETTY BACK

Part memoir, part style-guide, Getting the Pretty Back encourages every woman to become “the sexiest, funniest, smartest, best-dressed, and most confident woman that you can be.” Whether she’s discussing sex and beauty, personal style, travel and entertaining, motherhood, or friendships, Molly embodies the spirit of being fabulous at every age:

On prettiness: “Being pretty can be about style or outer beauty, true, but on a deeper, more fundamental level, it’s about learning to take care of yourself again. …At heart, prettiness is a state of mind. It’s a way of looking at things, of looking at ourselves. It’s the part of you that knows what you really want, that takes risks.” 

On birthdays:  “Here’s a secret: I actually like my age. Or rather, I like everything that I’ve learned as those years have accumulated. Whether it has to do with friendship, family, or falling in love, whether it involves acting, fashion, or motherhood, there’s nothing I would give up. (Well, okay, maybe I’d pass on the Dorothy Hamill haircut I got in the fourth grade).”

On making friends: “Very often we get stuck saying to ourselves that we are too old. The time for making new friends has passed. We treat friendship like a new language—if you didn’t pick it up in middle school, it’s too late. Why bother? This is far from the case.  One of the advantages of being older is that you know yourself better—you know what traits really matter to you in a friend, and what you offer to a friendship. You can embrace your differences, rather than trying to fit a mold.”

On parenting: “I’m not one to say that my children are perfect, or that I am the perfect parent. There was a long week when my daughter Mathilda’s response to any question was “Liar liar pants on fire.” This was a vast improvement upon the previously and often used “Nana Nana, butt butt.” I don’t ask her why she says these things; I know she’s picked them up at school. She’s just trying them on for size, and eventually she will find the words for what she feels. I trust that. We are all works in progress. And believe me, I’m no expert when it comes to being a mother. I just like to say that my expertise lies in the fact that I am a mother and incidentally, I play one on TV . . .”

 

On looking ahead: “It’s up to us to decide who we want to be…hopefully we have enough wisdom to know that we don’t need to prove anything anymore, and enough life history to know when we need to try new things, to be the navigator of our own unforgettable journey.”

Plus Molly offers tons of unique tips and practical insights:

Fashion Faux Pas that Work • Five Perfect Friend Dates • Iconic Hairstyles in Film • Unconventional Ways to Stay Fit • How to Pack a Carry-on Bag • Parenting Advice to Ignore (Even When It’s From Your Own Mom) • and of course,

Finding the Perfect Lipstick…

A reflection of Molly’s own personality—vibrant, fun, stylish, and sexy—and gorgeously illustrated by Ruben Toledo, GETTING THE PRETTY BACK is a straight-talking, girlfriend’s guide to getting through the murky milestones and identity issues that crop up long after the prom ends.

 I started reading this book on Friday and found it to be witty and charming. Ringwald offers fashion advice, makeup tips and life lessons that will help women of all ages work on getting back to feeling pretty and alive.

We have two copies of Getting the Pretty Back to giveaway. If you'd like to be entered to win one, leave a comment telling us what you do when you want to feel pretty. Do you have a special outfit you put on? Fix your hair a certain way? Put on a particularly sexy pair of heels? Contest ends Sunday, May 2 at 11:59 p.m.

This book is available from It Books. You can buy it here.

Rowena's review of Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts.

Hero: Del Brown
Heroine: Laurel McBane

Wedding baker Laurel McBane is surrounded by romance working at Vows wedding planning company with her best friends Parker, Emma, and Mac. But she’s too low-key to appreciate all the luxuries that their clients seem to long for. What she does appreciate is a strong, intelligent man, a man just like Parker’s older brother Delaney, on whom she’s had a mega-crush since childhood. But some infatuations last longer than others, and Laurel is convinced that the Ivy League lawyer is still out of her reach. Plus, Del is too protective of Laurel to ever cross the line with her – or so she thinks. When Laurel’s quicksilver moods get the better of her – leading to an angry, hot, all-together mind-blowing kiss with Del – she’ll have to quiet the doubts in her mind to turn a moment of passion into forever…

This is another series that I am absolutely in love with. I love that it's a straight up contemporary series with just two human beings falling in love without be bitten by vampires or taken hostage by terrorists or anything else like that. They're just two everyday, average, normal people falling in love over the course of time.

This book was good. It was but I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Jack and Emma's story. There were things about this book that I loved, like learning about Laurel's side of the business, I've always been fascinated with baking and Laurel does it well so it was good to see that. I also enjoyed getting to know Del. I've always been interested in learning more about Del in the first two books and it was good to finally see Del getting some serious page time.

Laurel and Del's attraction to each other started in the last book when they're all at Emma's family's house for a bbq and you could tell that this was where that day was going to lead Del and Laurel. Their attraction seemed to simmer on low heat for a few weeks before it boiled right out of the pot. Del is trying to keep seeing Laurel as the little sister he's always known her to be and Laurel is trying to get over her silly crush on the boy that will always look at her like a little sister. So in a last ditch effort to get Del out of her system, she shows him that she's NOT his sister and that sets the tone for the rest of the book.

They're playing this keep away game of Laurel's shoes and Del is using the shoes to get to know Laurel better. He's going for this and he's going to see where it leads them. Watching these two grow closer and closer was cute. Seeing them bicker their way to love made me smile.

Del was a great hero, one who caring, thoughtful and adorable. I really liked him but I didn't love Del the way that I loved Jack. Del was a good, solid hero but he didn't make my heart sing the way that his best friend did.

Laurel was one of those feisty heroines who at times made me roll my eyes around the room. Her reasons for being mad at Del about the whole money didn't make sense to me. She's known Del most of her life, she's friends with him. She should have known him enough to understand where he was coming from with the whole paying thing. I mean, she blew something so small into something so big and I just didn't get it. So Del's rich, so what? I just didn't understand where all of her anger from him trying to give her money was coming from. It's not like he thought she was this two bit loser who he felt sorry for and was trying to give her a break. I could see him doing the exact same thing to Emma and to Mac but Laurel blew that shit up like he was trying to strangle her or something.

Overall, this book was good but it's not my favorite of the bunch. My favorite part of this book was getting to know Laurel while she was at work. I loved reading about all of her baking bits. Seeing her in action in the kitchen had me wanting to throw my apron on and see what kind of concoctions I could throw together in the kitchen. I love baking in any romance novel and it never fails to amaze me how Nora Roberts can take any occupation out there and make me curious about it. She's a phenomenal writer and I'm such a fan!

It was good to see the gang all together again and I can't wait for Parker and Mal's story. I can't wait to see how Mal wins her over. It's going to be interesting because Mal is a fox and Parker is one tough cookie. I can already imagine the sparks that are going to fly. Woot!

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley Trade. You can buy it here.

We have 3 copies of Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber to giveaway today! The grand prize winner will also win a $25 gift cetificate to the book store of their choice.

In the year since his wife, Hannah, passed away, Dr. Michael Everett has been inconsolable.  Unable to carry on living any semblance of a normal life without her, Michael has avoided contact with friends and family and filled his empty days with work.  So he’s shocked when his brother-in-law, Ritchie, hands him a letter Hannah had written before she died; apparently she’d instructed Ritchie to deliver it to Michael on the first anniversary of her death.

In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request: she asks Michael to marry again and become the father he was meant to be.  Knowing his reaction, Hannah gives him a gentle push by suggesting three women—each of whom, she says, would make an excellent wife and companion.

Michael’s heart isn’t in it, but he decides to carry out Hannah’s final wish by contacting each of the women.  He soon discovers that he is not the only person dealing with a broken heart.

The first woman on Hannah’s list is her cousin, Winter Adams, owner of the French Café on Seattle’s Blossom Street.  Winter is passionate about three things—food, cooking and fellow chef Pierre Dubois.  But Winter and Pierre—both uncompromising perfectionists—have had a stormy on-and-off relationship and are currently in the “off” phase.  Winter’s miserable with and without Pierre.  Maybe Michael will provide an alternative…?

Leanne Lancaster is the next woman on Hannah’s list.  Leanne is the oncology nurse who cared for Hannah in her last months.  Like Michael, she is coping with her own sense of loss over the dissolution of her marriage.  Her husband, Mark, embezzled $25,000 from a charity organized by the hospital where Leanne works.  With Mark sentenced to a prison term and unwilling to explain his actions to his wife, Leanne felt she had no option but to ask for a divorce.  But what Leanne really needs most is closure.  Without understanding his motives, Leanne is unable to reconcile with Mark or move on without him.

The final name on the list is Macy Roth.  Macy is everything Michael is not—artistic, spontaneous, eccentric and always late for appointments. Hannah felt that Macy’s effervescent personality might encourage someone as serious as Michael to learn to laugh again.  Macy is a collector of strays—cats, dogs and even people.  Michael can’t believe Hannah added Macy to her list; the only way he’d fall for her is if opposites really do attract.

As he spends time with each woman, Michael realizes that Hannah’s list may end up saving four lives, not just one.

If you'd like a chance to win Hannah's List, tell us what you think of the concept of Hannah writing Michael a list? Would you do the same for your husband? How would you feel if he did it for you?

• Enjoy additional titles by Debbie Macomber with a $25 VISA gift card
• Copy of Hannah’s List

For more information about Hannah's List, and to read Hannah's letter to Michael, click here. You can also enter to win  $10,000*!!

The contest ends Monday, May 10 at 11:59 p.m.



This book will be available from Mira, May 2010. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

*Book Binge is not associated with the the $10,000 contest in any way

Rowena: This week I didn't read as much as I wanted to read but I'm stressed and had other things on my mind.  I just finished Nothing But Trouble by the great Rachel Gibson and adored it.  I thought it was such a cute story and I  can't wait to review it for you guys.  Last night, I started A Lady's Guide to Improper Behavior by Suzanne Enoch and so far, it's good.  The hero is broken down from war and is grumpy and what not.  He's totally reminding me of Mark Bresseler from Nothing But Trouble.  I'm on a roll with the hurt hero thing going on but I'm not complaining.

Holly: I'm visiting Northern California as part of an extended weekend away, so I haven't had much time to read. I get really carsick which means no reading in the car. It really sucks since this is an 8+ hour trip, one way. So much wasted reading time!

Anyway, before I left I started reading Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn. For those of you who read What Happens in London you'll recognize Sebastian as Harry's best friend. I'm only about 2 chapters in, but I really like what I've read so far. Yesterday I spent some time out by the pool and started reading Hannah's List by Debbie Macmober (check back tomorrow for a chance to win a copy). I only read a few chapters (I chose to nap instead of reading..scandalous, I know) but I found myself really drawn in.

I have some downtime today so hopefully I'll be able to get some quality reading time in.

Casee: I'm reading the Idiot's Guide to Getting Back at Your BFF. I'm reading it to find creative ways to get back at Holly for visiting Norcal AFTER I moved away from it. In between reading that, I've been reading Christy Reece's latest trilogy. I'm reading the last book in the series right now. Last Chance is the book I've been waiting for and so far I haven't been disappointed in McKenna. The hero did just do something that pissed me off, but I'm going to see if he can redeem himself.

So, what are you reading?