The Book Review Club (September 2015)

Welcome to the September meeting of The Book Review Club! We're back after a summer of fun and reading. Please click through below my post for links to smart, thoughtful reviews of a variety of books. You will not regret it. Promise! A little trivia: On this day in 1850, California became the 31st state. And in 1956, Elvis Presley debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show. Happy Birthday to Michael Keaton! I've always had a bit of a celebrity crush on you.

JUST SAY YES 
by Alyssa Goodnight (adult, romance, contemporary)

It's the end of the summer. I've been reading a lot of middle grade and young adult. And I'm really in the mood for a break. So, I pick up JUST SAY YES by our very own Alyssa Goodnight. I expected to enjoy this book. After all, I'm already in the know re Alyssa's snappy writing and her terrific sense of humor. What I didn't expect was to enjoy it oh so much!

In a nutshell: Jade Moran is a single mom in desperate need of a kitchen remodel. She's not looking for romance, and she has her reasons. Max Gianopoulis, contractor, doesn't get involved with clients. He has his reasons. Toss in some wacky family, a teenage daughter (yes, I could relate!), a bunch of humor, a little magic and...voila...a fun, entertaining romance.

The thing with romance is you pretty much know the ending from the start, right? Boy and girl wind up together. What's tricky is the journey, how the author manages to get the hero and heroine together by the last page. And Alyssa does it seamlessly, in small, believable steps. Loved this!

The dialogue is smart and witty:
Her: "I didn't lure you here as a part of a ploy to seduce you."
Him: "I've seen your kitchen...your alibi is rock solid."

Something a Little Different: Each chapter begins with a description of a food and how it relates to life. You know how addicted I'm majorly addicted to licorice? Here's the food description from the top of chapter 5: Licorice can rein in the emotions and foster a sense of control over tricky situations, but it should only be a temporary fix. Ha! Who knew?!

Thank you, Alyssa Goodnight, for JUST SAY YES, a very entertaining romantic read!

Dear FCC: No subterfuge here. Bought JUST SAY YES for my kindle. 

 And now....onto the rest of our reviews. Please click through. You won't want to miss a single one!

MIDDLE GRADE AND YOUNG ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Rob Costello: WHAT JAMIE SAW by Carolyn Coman (middle grade)

Jody Feldman: DIME by E.R. Frank (young adult, contemporary)

Sarah Laurence: TONIGHT THE STREET ARE OURS by Leila Sales (young adult, contemporary)

Stacy of the Cat's Meow: THE CURE FOR DREAMING by Cat Winters (young adult)


ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Patti Abbott:  THE PAINTED VEIL by Somerset Maugham

Alyssa Goodnight: SPOTLESS by Camilla Monk (humorous adventure)

Jenn Jilks of Cottage Country: MY TOWNIE HEART by Diane Sperrazza

Linda McLaughlin: MAISIE DOBBS by Jacqueline Winspear (mystery)

Prairie Rose of Prairie Rose's Garden: GO SET A WATCHMAN by Harper Lee

Ray Potthoff:   THE DOG MASTER: A NOVEL OF THE FIRST DOG by W. Bruce Cameron

Stacy Nyikos: EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng


NONFICTION REVIEW

Jenn Jilks of Cottage Country: BEING MORTAL by DR. ATUL GAWANDE

Note to Reviewers: Any errors (broken link, missed review, etc), just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thank you so much for your reviews!

Meet My Character (a blog tour)

A huge shout-out and thank you to Alyssa Goodnight for twisting my arm suggesting I participate in this Meet My Character blog tour! (Hi Alyssa! You know I'm just kidding. Look! I linked to you twice!)

1. What is the name of your character? 
Raine Watson. I know, I know. Raine is kind of a weird name. And, believe me, I was pretty sick of it by the time I finished the last revision. But the name does have a bit of history. Thirteen years before the book opens, this character was born in the middle of a storm in the back seat of a car. And that's how her free-spirited mom came up with the name Raine. Hey, I could've gone with Pontiac!

2. Is he/she fictional or a historic person? 
Fiction all the way.

3. When and where is the story set? 
Modern day in a made-up town named Yielding in upper New York state. The geography is similar enough to where I grew up (Ontario, Canada) that it felt like a little trip home to the Muskoka area.

4. What should we know about her?
Besides an interesting name, Raine has an interesting gift. She can pick up other people's memories from objects. I actually think I wouldn't mind having this gift myself. Especially when I sense there's more to the story than one of my children is admitting!

5. What is the main conflict? What messes up her life?
So, Raine and her mom move to Yielding and a rented house in time for Raine to start 8th grade. Turns out a girl, Emily H., who used to live in the same house . . . disappeared about six months earlier. The police never found Emily. They never even found one solid clue.

Raine starts picking up memories of Emily H. Can Raine figure out what happened? Throw in the person or persons who don't want the truth to surface, a new school, lying mean girls, a certain boy and, yeah, there's a bunch of conflict.

6. When can we expect the book to be published?
TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015! I sweated bullets over this book. In fact, there was a point when I wondered if I'd ever get it right. I suspect my editor had the same worry. TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2015. Whew. I will be dancing all over San Diego.

What happens next? See the names below...bolded, enlarged and linked to websites? Those authors will be posting on Oct 6, 2014 about one of their characters. In fact, you might want to click through now...

Alli Sinclair combines her passion for exotic destinations, the quirks of human nature and the belief that everyone can dance, even if it's to their own beat. Luna Tango is the first in The Dance Card Series, published by Harlequin MIRA. Flamenco and the Russian Ballet will be released in 2015 and 2016 respectively.


Maureen McGowan is the Amazon bestselling author of the action-packed YA sci-fi thriller series The Dust Chronicles: Deviants (2012), Compliance (2013), and Glory (2014).

Misty Simon loves a good story and decided one day that she would try her hand at it. Eventually she got it right. There’s nothing better in the world than making someone laugh, and she hopes everyone at least snickers in the right places when reading her books. She lives with her husband, daughter and three insane dogs in Central Pennsylvania where she is hard at work on her next novel or three.

After a fifteen-year stint as an electrical engineer, P. J. (Tricia) Hoover started writing books for kids and teens.  Her middle grade novel, Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life was released this month by Starscape/Macmillan and tells the story of a young immortal King Tut, who's been stuck in middle school for over 3,000 years. Her first novel for teens, Solstice was published in 2013 by Tor Teen/Macmillan.