Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.
Showing posts with label Kensington Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kensington Books. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Review: A Thousand Yesteryears by Mae Clair

Title: A Thousand Yesteryears (Point Pleasant Series)
Author: Mae Clair
Publisher: Kensington
Publication date: April 26, 2016

About the book: Behind a legend lies the truth…

As a child, Eve Parrish lost her father and her best friend, Maggie Flynn, in a tragic bridge collapse. Fifteen years later she returns to Point Pleasant to settle her deceased aunt’s estate. Though much has changed about the once thriving river community, the ghost of tragedy still weighs heavily on the town, as do rumors and sightings of the Mothman, a local legend. When Eve uncovers startling information about her aunt’s death, that legend is in danger of becoming all too real . . .

Caden Flynn is one of the few lucky survivors of the bridge collapse but blames himself for coercing his younger sister out that night. He’s carried that guilt for fifteen years, unaware of darker currents haunting the town. It isn’t long before Eve’s arrival unravels an old secret—one that places her and Caden in the crosshairs of a deadly killer . . .


“Masterful, bone-chilling fiction…one intense thriller. A Thousand Yesteryears will keep you guessing, gasping and turning the pages for more.” —New York Times bestselling author Kevin O’Brien


My thoughts: This book starts right before the collapse of Silver Bridge so you are hooked right from the start.  It then moves forward 15 years in time after Eve's Aunt Rosie dies.  She has inherited Aunt Rosie's house and the family hotel, so she has to make some decisions as to what to do with the properties.  Her mother had moved them after the tragedy as Eve lost her father in the bridge collapse and she had not been back since.  

She arrives in Point Pleasant to discover that her Aunt's house has been vandalized - but the damage is specific to her Aunt Rose's bedroom and dark room.  The rest of the house is virtually untouched.  Suspicious about the break-in, other things begin to happen to only fuel the fire.  Notes are left on Eve's car warning her to leave; she gets weird phone calls that are just static and clicks. Eve's best friend Maggie, who was killed in the bridge collapse, had lived right next door and her mother and brother, Ryan, still lived there.

Ryan just happens to work for the sheriff's department and is involved with investigating the break-in at Eve's house.  He recommends his brother Caden for the repairs to the backdoor as well as the inside of the house.  Caden was Eve's preteen crush, even though he was 6 years older - those 6 years don't seem that big of a difference anymore.  Sparks fly and Eve is beginning to wonder whether or not she should stay in Point Pleasant on a more permanent basis.

Tied up in everything from the bridge collapse to new sightings is the legendary Mothman and the general spookiness of the TNT.  Nobody knows whether the Mothman is real or just a legend, but many claim to have seen him - including Caden - though he has told no one of his encounters. A lot of people believe that the Mothman is responsible for all the bad things that have happened in Point Pleasant. 

As Eve and her friends - both old and new - start to piece together the mystery that her Aunt Rose was a part of - superstitions and mysteries from the past begin to shed light on happenings in the present - and Eve and Caden find themselves in a dangerous situation.  

I really enjoyed reading this book - it was a quick read and I had a hard time putting it down!

~I received a complimentary ecopy from Pump Up Your Book Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris (Book Review)

Title: Bridge of Scarlet Leaves
Author: Kristina McMorris
Publisher: Kensington Publishing


About the Book: From the award-winning author of Letters from Home comes a poignant novel of love and courage, set against one of the most controversial episodes in American history: the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Los Angeles, 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern's life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother's best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy.
When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost.

My thoughts: This has definitely been one of my favorite books of 2012 - if not THE favorite.  I finished it in June and have neglected to review it because I didn't think that I would be able to do it justice - but here goes.
Maddie and T.J. are still dealing with the loss of their mother in a terrible car crash, followed by their father retreating into his own world as he can't deal with this loss.  That leaves T.J. to try to fill in for them in protecting/raising Maddie - who at 19 doesn't feel her brother needs to know everything about her life.  So when Lane, her brother's best friend, and Maddie fall in love - her brother is the last person they feel they can tell.
Inter-racial couples are looked down on during this time and in many states it is illegal to marry, so T.J. is not the only one that they are keeping their relationship secret from.  Lane's family is busy arranging for a bride to come over from Japan for Lane - and when he finds this out, he knows that he and Maddie must act soon - so they run off to Seattle to elope.  Only to awaken the next morning to a world torn apart by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Lane returns to his family and Maddie to hers - both of which learn what they have done and are incredibly hurt by what they see as a betrayal.  
Before Lane and Maddie can even be a family, the Moritomo's father is arrested and the rest of the family shipped off to an internment camp.  It isn't long before Maddie finds out where they have gone, and finagles her way in to be with Lane.  Where Lane isn't trusted outside the camp, Maddie isn't trusted within it - and her and Lane have to share a room with Lane's mother -- who hasn't liked Maddie from the start.  They are both struggling to figure out how they can adapt to their new reality.  
This is only the first half of the book though - I don't want to give too much more away, but it will definitely keep you turning the pages.  I finished reading this on a flight from Las Vegas and as I don't like to fly, this was a perfect book as it drew me in and before I knew it we were landing and the flight was over.  
There are reading group questions in the back and I think this would be an absolutely great book for a book club.  There are so many issues here with the whole interracial couple especially set against the back drop of WWII.  She also deals with issues of family, loyalty, forgiveness, loss.  Once again - I loved this book and highly recommend it!
~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Rare Bird Lit in exchange for my unbiased review.~
Bridge of Scarlet Leaves
Publisher/Publication Date: Kensington Books, Feb 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7582-4685-1
431 pages

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