India's Summer by Thérèse

Title: India's Summer
Author: Thérèse
Publisher:  Fiction Studio

About the book: Single and about to turn forty, India Butler, a grade school teacher in London is having a meltdown. Desperate to reinvent her life she flies out to LA to spend the summer with her sister Annabelle a famous Hollywood actress and her brother in law a legendary rock musician. She maintains a wry detachment until she begins dating Adam, a gorgeous A- list actor. In an attempt to appear more successful she tells him she creates and teaches motivational workshops. 

When Adam’s friend is in a drunk-driving accident, Annabelle finds a lump on her throat and a mutual friend’s stepdaughter overdoses, India is drawn behind the veneer of Hollywood glitz and glamour and into their private lives. As her illusions about the perfection of their LA lifestyle fade away, India has an epiphany about her own real talents. She begins designing the kinds of classes and workshops she has fantasized about to Adam and successfully launches a series of workshops to help parents relate to their teenage children. She also drafts a book proposal.

In love with a movie star and with a burgeoning new career as a self- help guru, India is in her element until a defamatory video, filmed of her venting to Annabelle soon after her arrival goes viral. Her new life unravels. Humiliated and depressed, she returns to London where she repairs the damage with those closest to her. When her agent calls with news that he has sold her book proposal she takes control of her life. Shakily re-united with Adam and still balancing life on both sides of the pond, she returns to America to promote her book.

My thoughts:  This one was just okay for me.  While I liked India and her sister Annabelle, I found the storyline a little jumpy and hard to follow.  Many times I had to reread as all the sudden we were in a new place or it would jump from one person's POV to another and I wouldn't know whose eyes I was supposed to be seeing out of.  

India moves to L.A. for the summer to live with her sister Annie and her rock star husband.  She doesn't seem to be satisfied with who she is, as it sounds like over the years she has tried to find a "style" that fits her and in her eyes has been unsuccessful.  She is also burnt out on teaching and is wondering if she shouldn't try a different career.  

She is thrown into the celebrity whirlwind with parties, fund raisers, and paparazzi.  She begins to date a movie star, Adam, but when he questions her about her career she tends to be vague about the fact that she was a teacher in England.  She creates this fantasy job that she comes to realize is closer to what she really wants to do. 

When tragedy strikes it seems like it all happens at once (and actually, it does seem that that is how it happens. . .)Even though India isn't always true to herself, she is loyal and true to her friends and makes herself available to them when they need her.  Following this path she really does start to develop some workshops as well as a book proposal and finds her niche in helping people.  

There is more chaos and more success before the book wraps up.  All in all it wasn't a page turner for me but it was entertaining.  

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Book Sparks PR in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Buy India's Summer:  Amazon

Link to Thérèse'S website: http://thereseblogs.com/indias_summer

Link to Thérèse on Twitter: https://twitter.com/theresetweets

India's Summer
Publisher/Publication Date: Fiction Studio, Jan 2012
ISBN:  978-193655834-6
259 pages

A Girl Like You by Maria Geraci (Book Review)

Title: A Girl Like You
Author: Maria Geraci
Publisher: Penguin

About the Book: What if you found out you were the ugly friend?

Emma Frazier is smart, hardworking, and loves her job as a journalist for a Florida lifestyle magazine. Emma knows she’s no great beauty, but she’s pretty certain she has a shot with her handsome new boss, Ben Gallagher—until Emma overhears a mutual acquaintance refer to her as the “ugly friend.” In an effort to reclaim her battered self-esteem, Emma decides to impress Ben at work by promising an exclusive interview with NASCAR legend, Trip Monroe.

Emma and Trip went to high school together and although it’s been fourteen years since they’ve spoken, Emma is certain she can score an interview with the elusive super star. But connecting with Trip turns out to be harder than Emma imagined. Her quest for the interview leads her back to her tiny hometown of Catfish Cove, where old secrets and a new romantic interest shake up Emma’s views on life and teach her that maybe the key to finding true love is as simple as accepting yourself for the person you were always meant to be.

Link to A Girl Like You on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Like-You-Maria-Geraci/dp/0425247805?=jaxcas-20

My thoughts:  This was my first exposure to Maria Geraci and I found her delightful.  This book is for any girl who has felt the sting of low self-esteem - and personally I don't know a girl out there who hasn't felt it at one time or another.  The characters are easy to relate to - especially Emma.  She doesn't come from the traditional family, having two moms, but that just gives a nice twist to the story.  

Emma is beginning to worry that she won't find the man she is supposed to settle down with.  She is only 32, but her moms have been hinting at grandkids for a couple of years. This book is sort of like her journey to self discovery - and how she ends up with the man of her dreams.  Of course you know what they say - you have to kiss a few frogs before you end up with your prince. Maria does a great job of balancing the serious with the humorous, while also not letting you know too soon how it is going to end. 

If you are a fan of chick lit, then you should add this book to your tbr list. 

~I received a complimentary copy of A Girl Like You from Book Sparks in exchange for my unbiased review. ~

About the author:  Maria Geraci was born in Havana, Cuba, and raised on Florida's Space Coast.  Her love of books started with the classic Little Women (a book she read so often growing up, she could probably quote it). She lives with her husband and their three children in north Florida where she works as a part-time labor and delivery nurse by night and a full-time romance writer during the day.  

Link to Maria Geraci's website: http://mariageraci.com/

Link to Maria Geraci on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MariaGeraciBooks

Link to Maria Geraci on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MariaGeraci


A Girl Like You
Publisher/Publication Date: Penguin, Aug 2012
ISBN: 978-0-425-24780-8
308 pages

So Far Away by Meg Mitchell Moore (Book Review)

Title: So Far Away
Author: Meg Mitchell Moore
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books (Little, Brown and Company)


About the book: Thirteen-year-old Natalie Gallagher is trying to escape: from her parents' ugly divorce, and from the vicious cyber-bullying of her former best friend. She discovers a dusty old diary in her family's basement and is inspired to unlock its secrets.

Kathleen Lynch, an archivist at the Massachusetts State Archives, has her own painful secrets: she's a widow estranged from her only daughter. Natalie's research brings her to Kathleen, who in Natalie sees traces of the daughter she has lost.

What could the life of an Irish immigrant domestic servant from the 1920s teach them both? In the pages of the diary, they will learn that their fears and frustrations are timeless.

So Far Away is an affecting story of mothers and daughters and how solace can be found in the most unlikely places.

My thoughts:   This book didn't really grab me in the beginning.  I remembered that when I read her debut book, The Arrivals, that I felt the same way about the beginning, but eventually really enjoyed it, so I decided to stick with So Far Away.  I am not sure when the change happened, but I suddenly found that I could not put the book down.  I had to see what happened both in the present and the past.

There was a couple of stories going on here - Kathleen and her "lost" daughter; Neil and Adam and their baby adoption saga; Natalie and her relationship with her parents and friends; and Bridget, the Irish immigrant from the 1920's.  It was almost like the author happened upon this group of people and took a snapshot of a few months of their lives.  

What I mean by this is that it could be your next door neighbor's story, or the lady in the supermarket, or maybe even yours.  You don't get a nice neat ending at the end of the story either, but just the closing of the curtains on their lives.  It is with the understanding that life will go on, with more experiences and changes, and that this was just one moment out of life. 

I don't know which story I found more compelling - Natalie and her efforts to deal (or ignore) the cyber bullying that she found herself to be the center of, or Bridget and her tragic past.  It would be very cool to stumble upon an old diary and realize that you were the keeper of some secrets from the past, and that you might be the only one still alive who knew what those were.  I did like the way that the author was able to tie the two seemingly unrelated storylines together - but you will have to read the book to see how she does that!

I will continue to read books my Meg Mitchell Moore, but I have to remember that she draws me in slowly and not to give up on her books!  This is another book that I would recommend for book clubs - there is a lot of discussion material here about the proper ways to mother, how much influence we have or should have in our children's lives, cyberbullying, and even gay couples wanting to be parents. 

About the author: Meg Mitchell Moore is the author of The Arrivals and the forthcoming So Far Away. She worked for several years as a journalist. Her work has been published in Yankee, Continental, Women’s Health, Advertising Age and many other business and consumer magazines. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and their three children.

You can find her on her website - Meg Mitchell Moore, on Facebook, or on Twitter. 

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Book Sparks in exchange for my unbiased review.~

So Far Away

Publisher/Publication Date:Reagan Arthur Books, May 2012

ISBN: 978-0-316-09769-7

336 pages

Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Gooch Hummer (Book Review)

Title: Girl Unmoored
Author: Jennifer Gooch Hummer
Publisher: Fiction Studio Books


First sentence:  Jesus was in his underwear.


About the Book: Apron Bramhall has come unmoored.  Fortunately, she's about to be saved by Jesus.  Not that Jesus -- the actor who plays him in Jesus Christ Superstar.  Apron is desperate to avoid the look-alike Mike, who's suddenly everywhere, until she's stuck in church with him one day.  Then something happens -- Apron's broken heart blinks on for the first time since she's been adrift.


Mike and his boyfriend, Chad, offer her a summer job in their flower store, and Apron's world seems to calm.  But when she uncovers Chad's secret, stormy seas return.  Apron starts to see things the adults around her fail to -- like what love really means, and who is paying too much for it.


Apron has come unmoored, but now she'll need to take the helm if she's to get herself and those she loves to safe harbor.


My thoughts: Apron is just finishing up the seventh grade and has had a pretty rough year.  Her mom passed away and her dad has started a relationship with Margie (or M, as Apron calls her).  Margie is from Brazil and had been her mom's nurse, but now lives with Margie and her dad.  She is on a work visa in the United States and Apron believes is looking for Mr. Right so that she will not have to leave. Meanwhile, that is all that Apron wants her to do -- leave.

To top it off, her best friend Rennie has decided that it is time for them to make other friends, so has pretty much abandoned her as well. Now M is pushing to get rid of The Boss, Apron's guinea pig!  Before you can blink an eye, it is announced that she is pregnant and is marrying Apron's dad.  She is not looking forward to summer having to be around M all the time!

As luck would have it, she is left in a church with her next door neighbor's nephew, who she had seen in the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar.  Apron was there as it was her dad's wedding day and Mike was there with his partner Chad decorating for a wedding. Together they ran a flower store called Scents Appeal.  They enlisted Apron to help with the decorations and it was the beginning of a great friendship.  It also opened Apron up to a world in the 80's that not a lot of people had experience with.  At 13, it was a lot to handle.  I don't want to say any more about it, as I don't want to spill Chad's secret.

It was really a coming-of-age story for Apron, as she learned to deal with the different ways that you can love people and that sometimes you didn't have to do anything for someone to hate you.  This was Jennifer's debut novel and I can't wait to see what she writes next.  I definitely look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

About the author: Jennifer Gooch Hummer has worked as a script analyst for various talent agencies and major film studios. Her short stories have been published in Miranda Magazine, Our Stories, Glimmertrain and Fish. She has continued graduate studies in the Writer’s Program at UCLA, where she was awarded the Kirkwood Prize in fiction. Currently, Jennifer lives in Southern California and Maine with her husband and their three daughters.


You can find her online at www.jennifergoochhummer.com.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSparks in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Girl Unmoored
Publisher/Publication Date: Fiction Studio, March 2012
ISBN: 978-193655830-8
325 pages

Bonjour 40 by Karen Chase (Book Review)

Title: Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel Log (40 years. 40 days. 40 seconds)
Author: Karen Chase
Publisher: Karen A. Chase - Kindle edition

About the book: If Karen A. Chase absolutely had to turn forty, she decided she could do it gracefully in Paris… for nearly forty days. What began as a blog to communicate with friends and family, became a travel journal filled with over a months’ worth of humorous and insightful glimpses into her Paris adventures, each of which could be read in about forty seconds. Journal entries are interspersed with Chase's own inspiring photography. Additional, longer stories richly fill in details allowing readers to reflect upon her experiences with food, travel, photography, Parisians, writing, and love in the City of Lights. Through her Parisian- and self-exploration, comes a book that brings to life the richness of Paris as seen through the eyes of a romantic travel junkie. Chase shows readers the joys of turning 40, and with her magical view of Paris, they'll be ready to board a plane before they've turned the last page.


My thoughts:  This was a nice quick read for me at 134 pages.  Karen decides to visit Paris for 40 days to celebrate her 40th birthday.  When all of her friends tell her they want updates, a blog is born where she can keep her friends and family updated without spending a lot of time on the computer every day (when she could be out exploring Paris!)  That blog, along with some reflections that she wrote upon returning home, became this book.  She has also added some absolutely beautiful photographs that she took upon exploring the city. 

I guess you could call this book a journal of her travels, but it is written with an artistic flair. There are many lovely descriptions of the architecture and art, as well as the people and the countryside.  I had never thought much about ever visiting Paris, as it seemed pretty unrealistic for me, but after hearing her describe it, it actually has me considering it someday - maybe for one of my "landmark" birthdays!

~I received a complimentary e-book of Bonjour 40 from Book Sparks in exchange for my unbiased review.~

Bonjour 40: A Paris Travel Log (40 years. 40 days. 40 seconds.)

Publisher/Publication Date: Karen A. Chase, Oct 9, 2011

ASIN: B005U9BLGI

1635 KB