About Instructions for a Heatwave

Gretta Riordan wakes on a stultifying July morning to find that her husband of forty years has gone to get the paper and vanished, cleaning out his bank account along the way. Gretta’s three grown children converge on their parents’ home for the first time in years: Michael Francis, a history teacher whose marriage is failing; Monica, with two stepdaughters who despise her and a blighted past that has driven away the younger sister she once adored; and Aoife, the youngest, now living in Manhattan, a smart, immensely resourceful young woman who has arranged her entire life to conceal a devastating secret.

Maggie O’Farrell writes with exceptional grace and sensitivity about marriage, about the mysteries that inhere within families, and the fault lines over which we build our lives‹the secrets we hide from the people who know and love us best. In a novel that stretches from the heart of London to New York City’s Upper West Side to a remote village on the coast of Ireland, O’Farrell paints a bracing portrait of a family falling apart and coming together with hard-won, life-changing truths about who they really are.

Buy at: Amazon, Amazon Canada, and B&N

About Maggie O’Farrell

Maggie O’Farrell is the author of After You’d Gone, winner of a Betty Trask Award; My Lover¹s Lover; The Distance Between Us, winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox; and The Hand That First Held Mine, winner of a Costa Novel Award.

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US only)

I have one copy of Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell up for giveaway to my US readers.  To enter…

• For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
• Tweet, share on Facebook or blog for 3 entries.

This giveaway is open to US residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on July 6/13.  Good luck!

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Welcome to the blog today Catherine!  Catherine McKenzie is the author of the wonderful novel Hidden which just released today!  I loved this book (my review) although I have to say that I’ve loved all of her books.  She is in top five list of favorite authors and I always anxiously await her next book.  Today she joins us to talk about where the idea for Hidden came from…

“Hidden came from the culmination of a bunch of little incidents that were marinating for years.

For various reasons, including the death of a friend that many learned about through an email from his email account sent by his brother, I have been ruminating on the electronic traces that we leave behind these days.

In the past, it was letters, and now it is email and texts. What happens to those things when someone dies? And what secrets do they contain?

Another thread was that mine disaster that occurred a couple of years ago where it came out that one of the miners had a wife and a girlfriend. It only came to light because of all the media attention, and it got me thinking about the girlfriend and how she might never have known what happened to him (or certainly, not right away), had the accident not been treated with so much media attention.

The way the world works now makes it easy (easier?) to have relationships that are hidden from view, and this is what I wanted to explore in the book.”

About Hidden

When a married man suffers a sudden fatal accident, two women are shattered—his wife and someone else’s—and past secrets, desires and regrets are brought to light.

While walking home from work one evening, Jeff Manning is struck by a car and killed. Not one but two women fall to pieces at the news: his wife, Claire, and his co-worker Tish. Reeling from her loss, Claire must comfort her grieving son and contend with funeral arrangements, well-meaning family members and the arrival of Jeff’s estranged brother—her ex-boyfriend—Tim.

With Tish’s co-workers in the dark about her connection to Jeff outside the workplace, she volunteers to attend the funeral on the company’s behalf, but only she knows the true risk of inserting herself into the wreckage of Jeff’s life. Told through the three voices of Jeff, Tish and Claire, Hidden explores the complexity of relationships, our personal choices and the responsibilities we have to the ones we love.

Reading Guide
Buy at: Amazon Canada, iBookstore, Indigo, Kobo, and Amazon (Kindle version only)

About Catherine McKenzie

A graduate of McGill University in History and Law, Catherine practises law in Montreal, where she was born and raised. An avid skier and runner, Catherine’s novels, SPIN, ARRANGED and FORGOTTEN, are all international bestsellers. Her fourth novel, HIDDEN, will be released in June, 2013 in Canada and in Spring 2014 in the US. Her novels have been translated into French, German, Czech, Slovak and Polish. And if you want to know how she has time to do all that, the answer is: robots.

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS (Open Int’l)

I’m going to share my ARC copy of Hidden by Catherine McKenzie with one lucky winner as I always buy her books to have on my eReader for future rereading.  This giveaway is also open up internationally to all of my readers!  To enter…

• For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
• Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 3 entries.

This giveaway is open internationally and I will draw for the winner on July 6/13.  Good luck!

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I have long been a fan of Catherine McKenzie.  From her very first book she captivated my interest and has held it since with three more books including her newest entitled Hidden which releases tomorrow.  Hidden takes us into the lives of husbands, wives, maybe mistresses, and all the things that make up the lives we live each day.  It is a very real and honest novel that is raw and emotional and is a change from her previous novels that always seemed to have a funny side to them.  Hidden shows just what an extremely talented writer Catherine McKenzie is.

Hidden introduces us to three narrators:  Claire, Jeff, and Tish.  Each chapter alternates between them giving us an insight into who they were and are now.  Claire and Jeff are married with a son and Tish is married with a daughter.  Jeff and Tish work for the same company although in different locations and have developed a strong friendship.  After Jeff’s death certain things come to light that cause Claire to wonder if Jeff and Tish had been having an affair.  Her sister tells her to leave it alone as what can it matter now that he’s gone but Claire can’t do that.  She can’t go forward with her life until she finds out for sure what had been going on.  Had Jeff cheated on her? It’s not like he and Claire didn’t have a complicated past.  And more importantly why does this woman Tish seems just as broken as she Claire is over the death of Jeff?

Hidden addresses a very complex circle of relationships, both past and present, and how they make us the people we become and also how these past experiences shape our future relationships with each other and others.  The characters are all very well developed but as usual with me I gravitated towards the female characters but mostly with Claire.  Her emotional response to losing her husband was just so raw that you couldn’t help being drawn to her.  Despite feeling as though her whole world had ended she knew she had to pull herself up and move forward for her son and for herself.  I could feel her pain and uncertainty when she became suspicious of Jeff’s relationship to Tish and also of her need for the truth even if it was even more devastating to her already fragile heart.

Hidden is one of those novels that would make a fantastic book for your book club.  There is even a Reading Guide that can help you and your book club have a great discussion.  There are a multitude of topics to discuss in this novel from marriage, children, identity, jobs, and infidelity.  I can guarantee that there will not be a shortage of things to discuss and debate and I imagine that this is one of those novels that will evoke a strong response from those chatting on the issues brought forth.

As always Catherine has impressed me with yet another fantastic novel that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.  She has a way of getting to the heart of people and their emotions and portraying that in a story that literally enthralls you from the very first page!

Pre-order your copy at Amazon Canada, iBookstore, Indigo, Kobo, and Amazon (Kindle version only)

Source:  Review copy provided by Harper Collins.  No compensation was received and all opinions are my own. 

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About A Brother’s Honor (from Brenda’s website)

The Granger brothers left behind their family’s Virginia estate—and the bad memories it holds—years ago. But their dying grandfather’s request brings them home: to a failing business, a legacy of secrets and a deathbed promise to make things right.

As the eldest brother, attorney Jace Granger is determined to take responsibility for Granger Aeronautics, his family’s failing business. But the years of mismanagement seem impossible to untangle. As CEO, he hires a consultant to turn the company around. Smart, sexy Shana Bradford is the right person for the job—and the right woman to turn Jace’s world upside down.

But the passion between them is jeopardized when old secrets begin to emerge. A woman from Jace’s past suddenly reappears. And an explosive discovery changes everything Jace thinks he knows about his mother—and his father, who was convicted of her murder.

Jace Granger tried to leave his family history behind once before. But this time he needs to face the past…or risk losing his future.

Three brothers. One legacy. A lifetime of secrets.

Buy at Amazon, Amazon Canada, and B&N

About Brenda Jackson

Brenda Jackson is an American novelist who writes contemporary multicultural romance novels. She was the first African-American author to have a novel published as part of the Silhouette Desire line, and has seen many of her novels reach the New York Times and USAToday Bestsellers lists.

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US/Canada)

I have one copy of A Brother’s Honor by Brenda Jackson to share with my readers.  To enter…

• For 1 entry leave a comment entering the giveaway.
• Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 2 extra entries.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on June 29/13.  Good luck!

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Impossible Odds is written by Jessica Buchanan, Erik Landemalm, and Anthony Flacco. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Anthony Flacco, Candace Thaxton, and George Newbern. This is the memoir of Jessica Buchanan that tells of her kidnapping by an organized band of Somali land pirates and held for ransom. She was held for three months before she was rescued by the Navy SEALS.

In 2006 Jessica’s only dream was to teach African children and that’s her intention when she arrives in Nairobi, Kenya. Later in 2009 she meets Erik Landemalm who worked to provide aid to those in Africa, they marry and then move to Somalia to start their lives together and hopefully have a family. Neither could have imagined how much their lives would change in just a few short years.

On October 25, 2011 Jessica along with her colleague Poul were kidnapped at gunpoint by the Somali pirates. For an agonizing three months Jessica lived in conditions we can’t imagine and was kept on a starvation diet. It wasn’t long before her health began deteriorating at a rapid rate. Every day of those three months Jessiva lived in terror of being raped or dying, either from sickness or at the hands of the Somali pirates. With negotiations for ransom not going well the Somali’s were becoming increasingly antagonized.

After ninety-three days and Jessica’s health becoming a matter of life or death President Obama ordered Navy SEAL Team Six to attempt a rescues and on January 25, 2012 they did just that. They came in under compete darkness, attacked the camp, killed the pirates, and air lifted both Jessica and Poul out.

Impossible Odds is an incredible memoir to listen to. While I would have been horrified reading about it I felt it even more listening to it and the narrators did the story justice by telling it so well. The story alternates between Jessica’s story and then Erik’s struggles and I’m amazed at them both for sharing this story and I hope in some way it was a healing experience for them both. For myself I can’t ever imagine living through something like that and I have the utmost respect for Jessica and her strength for having gone through this ordeal and come out on the other side against Impossible Odds.

I recommend this audiobook or paper book for those who prefer if you like memoirs. I found it to be a book I didn’t want to quit listening to and even though I knew the outcome I was still held enthralled throughout. It gives a person hope in miracles and new beginnings!

Buy at Simon & Schuster, Audible, and iTunes

Source:  Review copy provided by Simon & Schuster.  No compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

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About The Lavender Garden

Le Cote d’Azur, 1998: In the sun-dappled south of France, Emilie de la Martiniéres, the last of her gilded line, finds herself sole inheritor of her childhood home, a magnificent chateau and vineyard. With the house comes a mountain of debt – and almost as many questions.

Paris, 1944: A bright, young British office clerk, Constance Carruthers, is sent to Paris to be part of Churchill’s Special Operations Executive during the climax of the Nazi occupation. Separated from her contacts in the Resistance she stumbles into the heart of a prominent family who regularly entertain members of the German elite even as they plot to liberate France. In a city rife with collaborators and brave members of the Resistance, Constance’s most difficult decision may be determining whom to trust with her heart.

As Emilie discovers what really happened to her family during the war and finds a connection to Constance much closer than she suspects, the chateau itself will provide clues that can unlock the mysteries of her past, present, and future.

Buy at Simon & Schuster, Amazon, Amazon Canada, and B&N

About Lucinda Riley (from Simon & Schuster)

Lucinda Riley is the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Orchid House and The Girl on the Cliff. Born in Ireland, she now lives in the English countryside and in France with her husband and four children.

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US only)

I have one copy of The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley to share with my readers.  To enter…

• For 1 entry leave a comment entering the giveaway.
• Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 2 extra entries.

This giveaway is open to US residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on June 25/13.  Good luck!

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In She Rises by Kate Worsley we meet Louise Fletcher in the year 1740 living on an Essex farm as a dairymaid.  When she is offered a job as a lady’s maid to a wealthy captain’s daughter in the naval port of  Harwich she jumps at the chance to get away.  Louise is captivated by her new mistress Rebecca.  Rebecca is so different from anyone Louise has ever known in her life including herself.  At first Rebecca is horrified at the thought of having a dairy maid as her lady’s maid but slowly Louise wins her over especially after she cares for Rebecca when she contracts small pox.  As time goes on their relationship deepens and the two find, in each other, something they’ve never found in anyone else.  But time and circumstance have a way of changing things and the two are torn from each other.

Then we have Louise’s brother Luke who, at fifteen, has been forced into the Majesty’s Navy while he had been drinking at a local tavern.  He is beaten and when he comes to he finds himself on the Essex and at sea.  Luke knows right off he doesn’t belong there.  He isn’t made to be a seaman but he also doesn’t want to be beaten again.  He’s smart enough to know that he has to mind his own business, ingratiate himself with the right people, and most of all follow orders.  The only thing that matters to Luke is getting back to the girl he left behind.  However Luke stands out from the other men though and soon enough this puts him in a very precarious position in which he ultimately makes a decision that can change his life.

At this point I will say that there is a twist in the story that did surprise me and one I didn’t see coming at all.  Overall I enjoyed this novel.  I found the beginning slow going although interesting enough to keep going and I’m glad I did because the second half of the book picks up a great deal and I didn’t want to put it down until I knew what was happening.  I was much more drawn to Louise’s story than Luke’s and would have liked the focus on only Louise but having finished the book I can see now why that would have been impossible.  The story of Louise and Luke are entwined in such a way that one can’t be told without the  other.  She Rises is a novel that takes you from the harshness of the sea to an engrossing love story.  As a note for some though there are some scenes of sexual content that some readers may find disturbing.

She Rises by Kate Worsley is on tour with TLC Book Tours so make sure and check out the other tour stops.  You can pick up your own copy of She Rises at Amazon, Amazon Canada, and B&N.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US/Canada)

I have one copy of She Rises by Kate Worsley to share with my readers.  To enter…

• For 1 entry leave a comment entering the giveaway.
• Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 2 extra entries.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on June 22/13.  Good luck!

Source:  Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours and the Publisher.  No compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

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About Wedding Night

Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to propose during lunch at one of London’s fanciest restaurants. But when his big question involves a trip abroad, not a trip down the aisle, she’s completely crushed. So when Ben, an old flame, calls her out of the blue and reminds Lottie of their pact to get married if they were both still single at thirty, she jumps at the chance. No formal dates—just a quick march to the altar and a honeymoon on Ikonos, the sun-drenched Greek island where they first met years ago.

Their family and friends are horrified. Fliss, Lottie’s older sister, knows that Lottie can be impulsive—but surely this is her worst decision yet. And Ben’s colleague Lorcan fears that this hasty marriage will ruin his friend’s career. To keep Lottie and Ben from making a terrible mistake, Fliss concocts an elaborate scheme to sabotage their wedding night. As she and Lorcan jet off to Ikonos in pursuit, Lottie and Ben are in for a honeymoon to remember, for better…or worse.

For more info on the book, please visit the Random House website
Read an excerpt

Sophie reading  from Wedding Night…

About Sophie Kinsella

Sophie Kinsella is the #1 internationally bestselling author of the Shopaholic series as well as the novels Can You Keep a Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me?, Twenties Girl, and I’ve Got Your Number. She lives in England.

Sophie’s website
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GIVEAWAY DETAILS (US/Canada)

I have 3 copies of Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella to share with my readers.  To enter…

• For 1 entry leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
• Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 2 extra entries.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winners on June 22/13.  Good luck!

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Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin is an audiobook that completely blew me away. This is an amazing novel that deals with some serious issues and does it in such a way as to totally immerse the reader in the characters emotions and lives. The audiobook production of this book is narrated by the author Abigail Tarttelin as well as a host of others: Christian Coulson, James Langton, Keith Nobbs, Kate Reading, and Anita Sabherwal. I’m pretty sure I would have loved this book in print as well but these narrators did such a great job of really bringing these characters and this story to life for me.

Max is a golden boy. He has everything going for him. He’s good looking, smart, has lots of friends, loves sports, and the girls flock around him. His family is prominent in the neighborhood with his mother being a criminal lawyer and his father running for Parliament. Even Maxs’ little brother Daniel adores him. Yet this family has something hanging over them. A huge secret that they’ve been keeping for years and that is that Max is intersex.

Max has never really had a problem with being the way he is. He has lived life as a boy and is happy that way. Now as he’s getting older though he’s thinking more and more about how things are going to change for him because either way he’s not like a normal boy. How will he be able to have a relationship? Will anyone want him as he is? And just how does he go about ever sharing this with anyone? And then his life is literally turned upside down when a close family friend abuses his trust.

Max is suddenly forced to really examine his life and identity. Just who is Max really? And who does Max want to be? What happens to Max totally upends this family and leaves them questioning every decision they ever made.

I know I keep saying this but this is truly a phenomenal novel. It’s written by 25 year old Abigail Tarttelin and I’m amazed that this is her debut novel. The depth of emotion and quality of both writing and story show a maturity usually found in more seasoned writers. Golden Boy would make such a good book club pick as well. The wealth of topics to discuss is never ending: the issue of intersex children, marriage, family, and the decisions we make and the consequences that follow. I would have loved to have someone to discuss this book with while listening to it.

Golden Boy is an excellent audio. I fell into this book completely and loved Max dearly. My heart went out to him and his struggles and this book really makes you wonder just how you would handle something like this. What decisions would you make for your child? Ultimately it’s a question of identity and the need to have one and for Max that was a little harder than for most of us.

Excellent audiobook and very highly recommended by yours truly! I loved it!

Buy at:  Simon & Schuster, Audible, and iTunes

Source:  Review copy provided by the publisher.  No compensation was received for this review and all opinions are my own.

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Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker is an emotional novel of what can happen when somebody makes a wrong choice and destroys the lives of others. It will tug at your heart, you may shed a tear or two, and you will even have a laugh. It will ultimately teach you the meaning of forgiveness. I listened to the audio of Ten Tiny Breaths narrated by Elizabeth Louise and I really enjoyed her tone of voice and felt she added to my enjoyment of the book.

The lives of Kacey’s parents, best friend, and boyfriend are lost when they are hit by a drink driver. Kacey is the only survivor and she suffers enough guilt to destroy anyone’s soul. Along with that the nightmares of that day, listening to her mother take her last breath and holding her boyfriend’s hand, have her reliving it nightly. In an effort to try to make a new start Kacey and her younger sister Livie leave for Miami.

Kacey has built some pretty solid walls around herself. She doesn’t want to ever care about anyone again for fear of experiencing loss again. The only person she cares about and would protect with her life is her younger sister Livie. Yet when their neighbour Storm and her young daughter come into their lives they are impossible to shoo out and even Kacey finds herself warming to Storm and finding a friendship.

Then there is her mysterious and gorgeous neighbour Trent. Since the accident Kacey had steered clear of emotional attachments and instead always went after the bad boys. Trent certainly fits the description of the hot looking bad boy and yet he is so much more. As much as she tries to deny the attraction she can’t. Until the day she learns something that will turn her world upside down again and maybe this time she won’t be able to find a way back.

Ten Tiny Breaths is a great audio and one I enjoyed a lot. This is a really good story that ultimately highlights the dangers of drinking and driving and the devastation it causes. I loved the characters and the story and was thrilled to find out that there is a sequel featuring Livie called One Tiny Lie which is available on June 11. I can’t wait to listen in on another of K.A. Tucker’s books!

Buy at:  Simon & Schuster, Audible, or iTunes

Source:  Review copy provided by the Publisher.  No compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

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