Month: July 2019

Blog Tour: Willow

Today I will be sharing a short extract for my spot on the blog tour for Willow by Grace Parks. This is the first novel in The Pepper Lane Club series!

Book Description:

Can a socialite and a technophobe fall in love?

A bubbly personality and a great job in social media didn’t mean that Willow Lawson had it all. Her love life was distant memory and her social life only work related. The maddening demands of life seemed to get in the way of finding time for herself or her friends. 

She starts the Pepper Lane Club as a chance to step away from her busy schedule once a month to reconnect with her friends. 

Thomas Greer, the proprietor of the Pepper Lane Café, annoys her. He’s her complete opposite; unsociable, serious, old-fashioned and dead set against social media. 

Always game for a challenge, Willow decides to take him on as a client. She’s going to prove to Thomas that he needs her help. She knew she would be successful, she just didn’t know she would lose her heart along the way.

Can Willow fall in love with a man that doesn’t respect her profession? Will Thomas let go of his preconceptions long enough to get to know the real Willow? Enjoy this sweet romance as Willow finds love and friendship in the first book in the Pepper Lane Series. 

Six women. Six stories. Six chances of love. One café.
The Pepper Lane Series follows the lives of six women as they share life, love and heartache once a month at the Pepper Lane Club. They might be an unlikely group of friends, but it takes all types to form a tribe.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK


I rolled my eyes at the two of them. “I don’t know what you want me to say. You’re expecting a love story that isn’t there.”

 “We’re not expecting a love story. We’re expecting honesty.”

 “Honesty? You want to know why I’m trying not to make this into a big deal? Because I don’t want things to be awkward at the next club meeting. I don’t want us to have to go somewhere else because I really love that café, and I love our name. We can’t be The Pepper Lane Club if we go somewhere else. It wouldn’t feel right. And here’s the thing, he’s not my type. He is so out of touch with reality. He’s the opposite of me. He’s annoying, and he has the worst dress sense. He’s the book, and I’m the movie. We’re different. Too different. So, that’s me being honest. I don’t know why he did what he did, and even though I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to finally give West a taste of his own medicine, I still wish I could’ve done in a different way. Having a fake boyfriend isn’t quite the same thing.” I took a deep breath. “And that’s me being honest with you.”

The Pepper Lane Club

Six women. Six stories. Six chances of love. One café.

Willow Lawson is a fun loving social media expert, who helps companies stand out from their competitors. Yet, despite her bubbly personality, her social life is mostly work-related, and her love life is non-existent. That’s when she starts The Pepper Lane Club, a chance to get away once a month from her maddening life and reconnect with her friends. It’s at this very first meeting that she meets Thomas Greer, who owns the café. He’s everything she’s not. He’s serious, unsociable, unfashionable, and dead set against social media. She decides to take him on as a client despite his refusals. She wants the challenge, and she wants to prove to him that he needs her help. He frustrates her, but there’s something about his old fashioned ways that also intrigues her.

The Pepper Lane series tells the stories of six women, who agree to meet once a month at their local café. They promise to meet no matter what life throws their way, and, as we soon find out, life throws a lot more than any of them expected. Friendships are forged, and deepened, as the women get to know each other. It’s only once a month, but they soon realize how important this little club has become to each of them. They might be an unlikely group of friends, but it takes all types to form a tribe.


About the Author:

From Grace, with Love…
Grace Parks is a sweet romance / chick lit author with a penchant for the happily ever after.

Contact Grace:
Website
Instagram

 

 

The First Lady


Authors: James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
Published: December 13, 2018
Audiobook

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: July 3-13, 2019
Jessica’s Rating:

Novel: 4 stars
Audiobook: 2.5 stars
Average: 3 stars

Book Description:

“Sir, the First Lady … has gone rogue.”

President Tucker is caught up in a media firestorm. The scandal of his affair has sent shockwaves through his re-election campaign, and threatens to derail everything he has worked for. To win the vote, he needs the First Lady to stand by his side.

But Grace Tucker has a mind of her own.

After years of compromise, unfulfilled promises, deception and betrayal, Grace refuses to give in to her husband’s demands. Escaping the city and her Secret Service agents, she is officially off the radar.

But did the First Lady run away? Or is she in far greater danger than anyone could have imagined?

Jessica’s Review:

The First Lady is collaboration between James Patterson and Brendan DuBois and it was well done!  Patterson’s collaborations can be hit or miss and other than multiple narrator pronunciation errors in the audiobook, this one was a hit for me.

Just weeks before the election, the president is caught in an affair, which could ruin his re-election.  And to make things worse: the first lady goes missing and keeping that quiet is easier said than done. 

We also meet Special Agent Sally Grissom who heads up the Presidential Protective Detail.  She is determined to find the first lady.  We also see into Grissom’s life with is far from perfect. 

I never lost interest in the story and I had no idea what was going to happen. There is a twist ending that I enjoyed. If you like political thrillers, then you should read this one, but stay away from the audiobook version. 

The audiobook is where the biggest negative is: Yes, I did like the narrator’s voice and narration but she continuously mispronounced multiple words every time the word was said. I wish I had kept track of all the errors. I remember at least four words being mispronounced.  The Potomac River was butchered, and the name of Button Gwinnett was ruined.  I am originally from Gwinnett County so that mispronunciation bothered me. I don’t know how these errors were not caught in the editing of the audiobook.  Maybe no one cared? Due to the extremity of errors I had to give the audiobook 2.5 stars.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel, but stay away from the audiobook! 

Purchase Links:
Amazon US  
Amazon UK 

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The Haunted by Danielle Vega

Published: June 4, 2019
304 Pages

Reviewed By: Kim
Kim’s Rating: 4 Stars

Book Description:

From Danielle Vega, YA’s answer to Stephen King, comes a new paranormal novel about dark family secrets, deep-seated vengeance, and the horrifying truth that evil often lurks in the unlikeliest of places.

Hendricks Becker-O’Malley is new in town, and she’s bringing baggage with her. With a dark and wild past, Hendricks doesn’t think the small town her parents moved her to has much to offer her in terms of excitement. She plans on laying low, but when she’s suddenly welcomed into the popular crowd at school, things don’t go as expected.

Hendricks learns from her new friends that the fixer-upper her parents are so excited about is notorious in town. Local legend says it’s haunted. Hendricks doesn’t believe it. Until she’s forced to. Blood-curdling screams erupt from the basement, her little brother wakes up covered in scratches, and something, or someone pushes her dad down the stairs. With help from the mysterious boy next door, Hendricks makes it her mission to take down the ghosts . . . if they don’t take her first.

Kim’s Review:
Another great one from Danielle Vega! This is a classic ghost story that is creepy and chilling. It actually follows Vega’s normal timeline within her books, but it’s more than her exorcism series. She even tied up any loose ends by the end of the story. I’ll admit that I wish the underlying plot for the haunting was a little deeper, sure. But it was still satisfying and she covered everything very well.

Steele House was the perfect setting and all the spirits and ghosts that showed up were pretty darn scary! Vega managed to add intense physical aspects to her ghosts that creeped the crap outta me! I also really liked the characters. And of course, typical Kim, I liked the mysterious neighbor boy the best. Overall, this book is chilling, scary, and perfect for reading when you want something dark. Definitely save it for the older teens but it’s a good choice for getting teens to read. Great book!

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

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