The Dating Itinerary by Brooke Williams

 Summary

As if it wasn’t bad enough to be deemed the “most single person” at her magazine’s office, budding reporter Penny has now been tapped to write a series of features called “The Dating Game.” From speed dating to Tinder, old-fashioned matchmakers to up-and-coming “dark dating,” Penny now has to go on a lot of dates. Silver lining: meeting new people should be fun, right? But running into her old rival, George, at her first dating event is decidedly not. Not only does the arrogant know-it-all have zero trouble attracting women, wherever Penny goes, somehow he just. Keeps. Showing. Up.

Geo knows he’s right on the cusp of writing success with the chance to have his own syndicated column. All he has to do is follow his agent’s ideas for showcasing different dating avenues, and he’ll pull in enough to help his sister’s non-profit women’s shelter get off the ground. Sure, his itinerary is starting to look strangely similar to his old rival Penny’s, but all’s fair in love and syndication, right?

The more they look for love in all the wrong places, though, the more they start to wonder if it was right in front of their noses all along. Still, the brutal dating scene just might end them, if these two don’t kill each other first.

My Thoughts

Okay, this was cute!  I have actually been in the mood to read a cute little rom-com type book.  You know what I'm talking about, the kind that is a little cheesy like a Hallmark movie.  Well, this is exactly what The Dating Itinerary is!

Was it a bit predictable? Yes.  Did it make me roll my eyes and sigh once in a while? Yes.  Was I totally and completely here for it? Yes!  Was it exactly what I wanted? YES!

Can you tell I liked this book?  I flew through it and it set me on a reading roll!  Loved it!

*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Asking For Truffle by Dorothy St. James

Summary

 When Charity Penn receives a letter saying she won a trip to Camellia Beach, South Carolina complete with free cooking lessons at the town's seaside chocolate shop, The Chocolate Box, she's immediately skeptical. She never entered any contest. Her former prep school friend offers to look into the phony prize--only to end up drowned in a vat of chocolate. Struck with guilt, Penn heads to the southern beach town to investigate why he was killed. But as wary as she is of the locals, she finds herself lured into their eccentric vibe, letting her defenses melt away and even learning the art of crafting delicious chocolates. That is, until delight turns bittersweet as she steps straight into the midst of a deadly plot to destroy the seaside town. Now, only Penn's quick thinking and a mysterious cask of rare chocolate can save the town she's learning to love. Rich and decadent, Asking for Truffle, the first in a new cozy series by Dorothy St. James, is sure to be a delectable read for fans of JoAnna Carl and Joanne Fluke.

My Thoughts

I have really been into cozy mysteries lately.  I'll read one, read another genre, and then go right back to a cozy mystery.  Sometimes I don't even read a different genre in between!  So, when I had the opportunity to read and review this book I was ready for it!

There are so many things to like about Asking For Truffle.  First of all, chocolate!  A book set in a chocolate shop definitely sounds good to me!  Once again, I was more than ready to read this book!

While I did enjoy it, I can't say that I was sucked in and blown away.  I struggled a bit with actually getting in to the story.  I'm not sure why exactly but it just wasn't working for me.

The main character, Penn, wasn't mu favorite.  She honestly kind of got on my nerves.  Penn was a bit whiney and constantly assumed people were after her money.  And, another thing that drove me crazy was that she came to the area to investigate her friend's murder but didn't check into anything for like four days!  She just kept taking cooking lessons!  Lol!

I'm definitely not saying that this was a bad book.  It wasn't!  It was still pretty good.  It just wasn't the best I've ever read.  It was simply ok.

*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

More Book Spotlights!

 

Book Spotlights of the Day

Against the Wind by Ann Nolder Heinz

Dr. Gwendolyn Pickering has a fierce passion for helping society's most vulnerable, a passion that led her to become one of America's earliest female physicians. The same protective instinct has prompted her to accept the marriage proposal of a sensitive but damaged artist whose self-destructive actions have brought him to the brink of ruin and back again. Now the Civil War is raging, and he is fighting in Virginia as a first lieutenant in the Union Army. When she receives word that he has been captured and is being held as a prisoner of war in Richmond's notorious Libby Prison, she vows to rescue him and bring him home.

Meanwhile, the commander of Union troops in Virginia, General Benjamin Butler, is seeking to establish secret communications between him and a network of Unionist sympathizers led by Miss Elizabeth Van Lew, a Richmond lady of impeccable social credentials who has communicated her willingness to act as his spy. Miss Van Lew is also known for engineering escapes from Libby Prison. Gwen agrees to undertake General Butler's dangerous mission as long as he gives her the freedom to also enlist Miss Van Lew's help in freeing Carl.

What begins as a straightforward rescue mission soon transforms into a struggle for Gwen's own freedom. With the war raging around her, she is forced into hiding while inimical forces seek to hunt her down. She must utilize every last ounce of her intellect and determination to navigate the seemingly endless barriers that appear before her. In the process, she discovers some important lessons about her own flawed nature as well as what it means to love truly and completely.

The Secrets of Immortality by C.J. McKivvik

"An incredibly paced action/adventure tale that will take you on a mind-bending journey." - Rabia Tanveer - Readers' Favorite

What would you do if you discovered how to be immortal? Tom Carrott's life turns into chaos when the director of his university research group drops dead while giving a speech, leaving the group unexpectedly bankrupt. Tom stands to lose everything he cares about - his job, his credibility, his girlfriend Eloise - until an ancient Egyptian chest arrives on his doorstep, with a note from beyond the grave.

Tom embarks on a dangerous and life-changing adventure in pursuit of the secret of immortality, with a fake researcher, the CIA, a beautiful Mossad agent named Eshe, the Theory of Everything Important, and a ruthless billionaire who will stop at nothing to obtain the secret.

Lies, friendship, love, danger, and greed are intertwined as Tom and Eshe race to solve the mystery before they lose everything, including their lives.

Hope Is A Dangerous Place by Jim Baton

Award-winning author Jim Baton believes revival is coming to America. This is what it might look like--

Seventy-five years ago, fifteen-year-old Hope McCormick disappeared. To remember her, the newly incorporated town was named “Hope.” When high school friends Kelsey and Harmonie begin looking into this unsolved mystery, they discover that someone will do anything to make sure the town’s secrets never come to light. Which neighbors are allies, and which face masks a violent enemy? And what will it take for their struggling town to fulfill its original destiny of hope?

Book Spotlights!

 Today's Book Spotlights!

The Chosen Ones by Lisa Luciano

Somebody has to do something. One of the world's top male skaters is in danger. He will be dead before the end of the Olympics.

"If you can't stop it, at least find out why it happened. For once, tell the real story."

Brody Yates has fallen on hard times. Fired from his job as a sports reporter for a major newspaper, he decides to go undercover as a trainer in order to infiltrate the backstage world of figure skating. He has one chance to save someone's life and to turn his around by breaking the story of a lifetime.

The Chosen Ones, though fictionalized, reveals the secrets behind the sequins against the backdrop of the high pressure sport of world class figure skating. In this non-stop thriller, only one person can win. Not everyone will survive.

The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen by Ray Smith

So begins the story of Molly Valle, who at forty-eight thinks she knows all that life has to offer a single, middle-aged woman - namely, men’s dismissal and disrespect. But when handsome activist John Pressman arrives in her Mississippi hometown, he challenges her self-doubt along with nearly everything else in her world. Soon, Molly discovers a strength and beauty she never knew she had—and a love so powerful, it can overcome the most tragic of consequences.

The Magnolia That Bloomed Unseen is a love story, an adventure novel, and a self-realization journey. It reignites the truth that many women—and men—have unconsciously extinguished: you are special and worthy of love, and it’s never too late to make your dreams come true.

Changing the Subject by Kate Abley

Welcome to the first comic contemporary novel from Kate Abley. Sue, a nice lady from Chingford, was 18 in 1979. Now, thanks to an Alzheimer’s Drugs trial gone wrong, or right, she is 18 again. But she soon remembers that youth isn’t all plain sailing; she’s in the dating pool with her daughters, the political waters are stormy and the public-private octopus wants her mental capacity. Are Somali pirates the only people she can trust? Can she navigate herself to freedom?
Sashay, stride, and scuffle in great boots and brave hat choices, with Sue and her friends as they do battle with Big Fat Pharmas, off-piste agents and the DNA lottery.

Sue, a nice light electricals designer from Chingford, has started wondering again, now she is back on dry land. She has a lot to wonder about. The Alzheimer’s drugs trial she volunteered for, because her best friend’s mum was suffering, has left her looking and feeling 18 years old again. Her DNA is now worth a great deal of money and she is worried that she can’t even trust the good ole NHS. She ran away from the mess made of her life by her rejuvenation only to end up chained to a hospital bed. Now she has escaped and is trying to get home again. She misses her daughters, who now look like her sisters and the only person who can help her get back is her ex-husband.

Into the Suffering City by Bill LeFurgy

Summary

Baltimore, 1909. The city is jumping with danger and excitement. New thrills are everywhere: cars, cocaine, ragtime music, moving pictures. Old troubles also thrive, including murder, corruption, and the painful divisions of gender, class, and race.

Dr. Sarah Kennecott is on the autism spectrum—a trait that is unidentified and unappreciated at the time. Her passion is justice for murder victims, and after getting fired for looking too closely into the killing of a showgirl, she refuses to back down from the investigation. Sarah forms an unlikely bond with Jack Harden, a tormented, down-on-his-luck private detective. Jack pushes the case into Baltimore’s seedy underworld, a vitally corrupt realm of saloons, brothels, and burlesque theaters.

When Sarah and Jack pull the pieces together, they discover a stunning pair of secrets, each of which is worth killing to keep.

"Into the Suffering City" is a fast-paced, emotionally immersive story that combines originality and historical detail to explore the lives of people living in Baltimore during the early 1900s.

My Thoughts

Definitely a book worth picking up!  I enjoyed learning about Historical Baltimore just about as much as I enjoyed the actual storyline!  Once again, this is a book that I may not have picked up on my own but I'm so glad that I was given the opportunity to read it.

Sarah is great!  Jack is ok, Lol!  He's not my favorite but he's alright.  I will say, it took me a bit to finally get into the story.  You have to give it time.  It's not the kind of book that you fall into instantly.  Still good though!  I recommend reading this book!

*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Flight of the Spark by Evelyn Puerto

 

Summary

Duty. Desire. Destiny.

How far would you go to be safe... to be free...to be loved?


Iskra doesn't question the rules. The rules are there to keep her safe from those who are deemed unsafe or unfair. Anyone who breaks the rules is taken, never to be heard from again. But that's the price everyone gladly pays for peace and safety. And no one wants to live like the Riskers--barbarians who reject order and justice, and could kill or be killed at any moment.


When a friend is taken because of Iskra, the guilt forces her to do the unthinkable: seek out the Riskers. Iskra's quest to save her friend quickly entangles her fate with a cryptic prophecy and a young Risker named Xico, who ensnares her heart and is willing to put it all on the line to win her.


With every risk Iskra takes, the closer she gets to true freedom. But every choice carries a consequence. The choices she makes set events she never imagined into motion, and the price of her freedom could very well be her life and the life of the man she loves.

My Thoughts

I haven't read a dystopian book in quite a while.  I guess I just haven't been in the mood for that genre.  So, when I picked this book up I was, as bad as I hate to admit it, dreading it.  Well, I soon realized that there was no need to dread!

I highly enjoyed this book and had a really hard time putting it down to get my work done.  I was so into it!  That is the sign of a good book!

I do have to say, while I understand the reason for the way this book ended, I did not like the ending!  I wasn't expecting it to be so abrupt!  And, like I said, I get it....but I don't have to like it! Lol!

If you enjoy dystopian books at all, you definitely need to pick this one up!  So good!

*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Y, Bo Go Up, and Cat Egg by Larry Baum

Y

Summary

The first in the Bo Books series, using very short words in order to make it easier for children to learn how to read. "Y" uses only one-letter "words", "Bo, Go Up!" uses words no longer than two letters, and "Cat Egg" uses words no longer than three letters.

"Y" is about a little girl who asks her dad why the sky is blue and the grass is green. He doesn't know and gets frustrated, but she opens his eyes, literally and figuratively.

Bo Go Up

Summary

The second in the Bo Books series, using very short words in order to make it easier for children to learn how to read. "Y" uses only one-letter "words", "BO, GO UP!" uses words no longer than two letters, and "Cat Egg" uses words no longer than three letters.

In "Bo, Go Up!", two friends play with a ball until the ad on one of their t-shirts leads them to a hot air balloon ride.

Cat Egg

Summary

The third in the Bo Books series, using very short words in order to make it easier for children to learn how to read. "Y" uses only one-letter "words", "BO, GO UP!" uses words no longer than two letters, and "Cat Egg" uses words no longer than three letters. Three friends in "Cat Egg" play with a pet cat, which surprises them by appearing to have laid an egg.

My Thoughts

I read these books to my kindergarten class last school year but I forgot to post about them!
They are cute little stories that my class enjoyed.  The best part is that they were able to read them by themselves later!

Note: I received copies of these books in exchange for an honest review.