Book Review: Put On Your Crown by Queen Latifah

Monday 31 May, 2010 By 3 Comments

Title: Put on Your Crown: Life-Changing Moments on the Path to Queendom
Author: Queen Latifah
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: May 6, 2010
Hardcover: 208 pages
ISBN: 978-0446555890
Genre: Self-Help

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From the Publisher:

Modeled after Maria Shriver’s Just Who Will You Be, Queen Latifah’s goal with Put On Your Crown is to help young women build a strong sense of self-esteem. A US Dept. of Justice survey found that females ages 16-24 are more vulnerable to partner violence than any other group, almost triple the national average. Cases like Chris Brown’s assault on pop star Rihanna showed an ugly side of adolescent life. However, Queen Latifah has always been a shining example of a woman happy with herself and unwilling to compromise to fit into the “hollywood ideal” of what a confident beautiful woman should look like.

My Review:

There is a queen inside every woman and a girl just waiting to be allowed to be herself, true and authentic and to live in the moment. It is moments that Queen Latifah wants to share with all women and girls in her book Put On Your Crown. Queen Latifah makes it clear she never set out to be a role model, that is too great a responsibility for anyone, rather she was sickened to hear the statistics of women and girls who suffer from low-self esteem. Put On Your Crown is an authentic no nonsense look at moments that can change a person’s life or thought process. This is not a book that tells one how to behave, as each person must listen to their own inner queen and follow their own path, rather this book speaks of the moments, those times we often ignore while we are too busy caught up in what could have been or what will be. Queen Latifah makes it quite clear that not all of these crucial moments will be positive ones, but moments to learn from all the same. In Put On Your Crown, Queen Latifah shares pivotal moments in her life and extrapolates those moments to moments we each could be experiencing in our own lives. Queen Latifah speaks directly to the reader in a pure, honest and direct voice, so listen up, Put On Your Crown is one book that should be read by women of all ages.

About the Author:

Queen Latifah was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. The Queen got her first break in music when a demo tape featuring one of her raps made its way to Tommy Boy Records. She was signed and immediately became a hit. She won the Best New Artist Award in 1990 for her album “All Hail the Queen” which also went platinum. The second single from the album, “Ladies First,” was eventually named by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock ‘n’ Roll.

By the time her second album “Nature of a Sista’” came out in 1991, Queen Latifah had begun investing in small businesses in her neighborhood, and acting both in television and movies. After the death of her brother and a soured deal with Tommy Boy, The Queen released her third album, “Black Reign”, and founded Flavor Unit Records and Management. She also landed a regular spot on Living Single and went on to star in a plethora of feature films including: Set It Off, The Perfect Holiday, Taxi, and Bringing Down the House.

I received a complimentary copy of Put On Your Crown by Queen Latifah from Hachette. Receiving a free copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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Book Review and Tour: The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch

Monday 31 May, 2010 By 4 Comments

Title: The One That I Want
Author: Allison Winn Scotch
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Hardcover: 288 pages
ISBN: 978-0307464507
Genre: Fiction

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From the Publisher:

Tilly Farmer is thirty-two years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a guidance counselor in her hometown, trying for a baby. Perfect.

In fact, on the surface you might never know how tough things used to be. At seventeen, Tilly lost her mother to cancer, her father drowned his grief in alcohol, and she played parent to her two younger sisters more often than being a kid herself. Still Tilly never let tragedy overtake her belief that hard work and good cheer could solve any problem. Of course she’s also spent a lifetime plastering a smile on her face and putting everyone else’s problems ahead of her own.
But that relentless happiness has served her well—her sisters are grown and content, her dad is ten years sober, and she’s helping her students achieve all their dreams while she and her husband, Tyler, start a family. A perfect life indeed.

Then one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into the fortune teller’s tent and is greeted by an old childhood friend, now a psychic, who offers her more than just a reading. “I’m giving you the gift of clarity,” her friend says. “It’s what I always thought you needed.” And soon enough, Tilly starts seeing things: her father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; Tyler uprooting their happy, stable life, a packed U-Haul in their driveway; and even more disturbing, these visions start coming true. Suddenly Tilly’s perfect life, so meticulously mapped out, seems to be crumbling around her. And she’s not sure what’s more frightening: that she’s begun to see the future or what the future holds . . .

As Tilly furiously races to keep up with—and hopefully change—her destiny, she faces the question: Which is the life she wants? The one she’s carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible?

My Review:

Well-written and beautifully descriptive, The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scott is a novel about happiness, a simple word, yet difficult to obtain. I struggled in the beginning thinking I was about to read another clichéd (a baby will make Tilly’s good life perfect), and at times unrealistic (the friend turned psychic), novel. Thankfully my earliest judgments were proven entirely incorrect. Yes Tilly does gain insight, rather the gift of clarity, from her classmate Ashley Simmons, and yes she would like to have a baby, but there the comparison ends. The One That I Want is an astonishingly deep look at the many facets and complications life offers on a daily basis. Scott introduces the readers to a diverse cast of characters, each one with their own strengths and weaknesses, family problems, marital issues, or the regular personal issues. The reader will quickly become absorbed into the lives of Tilly, Darcy, Susanna, Luanne, and Ashley and the small town of Westlake and the secrets kept and lessons learned. The One That I Want is a delightfully fresh and witty novel which looks at some fairly complex life issues all the while Scott reminds the reader, “sometimes we are all a little stuck”. I highly recommend The One That I Want to anyone looking for a wonderful book to read with powerful messages of love, family, hope and happiness despite the odds.


About the Author:

ALLISON WINN SCOTCH is the author of the novel The Department of Lost and Found. She is also a magazine writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Parents, Glamour, Redbook, and Shape. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.

For further more information visit:
Allison’s website.
Allison’s blog, Ask Allison.
Follow Allison on Twitter.
Follow Allison on Facebook.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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It’s Monday What Are You Reading? 31 May

Monday 31 May, 2010 By 21 Comments

It’s Monday What Are you Reading is the perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs.

I Read and Reviewed (click the title to be taken to the review):

This week I am planning to read:

  • Put Your Crown On by Queen Latifah
  • The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch
  • Spent by Avis Cardella
  • The Making of A Dutchess by Shana Galen
  • Freya’s Child by Alvin Franzmeier

  • The Confessions of Catherine De Medici by C.W. Gortner
  • The Last Track by Sam Hillard
  • Step Out of Nothing by Byron Pitts
  • Full Moon At Noontide: A Daughters Last Goodbye by Ann Putnam, David Hilfiker, and Thomas Cole
  • A Hollow Crown by Helen Hollick (finish it up)
  • Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (I will get to this)
  • They Never Die Quietly by D.M. Annechino (I will get this book read)

Visit next Monday to see if I managed to accomplish my reading goals.

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The Sunday Salon 30 May

Sunday 30 May, 2010 By 6 Comments

The Sunday Salon.com

Life: This past week as been a wonderful week confirming my decision the pass up attending BEA and BCC this year was indeed the correct choice. I would have loved to have met up with bloggers, writers, publishers, publicists, etc., as well as get the scoop on the upcoming releases (and I do miss that). However, I would never have been able to get this last week back and I would not have missed this past week with my family for anything. In the end the correct choice was indeed made.

Family Update: Our 19th Wedding Anniversary and party was a lot of fun and the cake was delicious! My car will be repaired this week, so for four days we shall be down to one car, which DH will have considering his long commute, making this week rather interesting as we try to juggle all the schedules about. The rest of the week was spent acquiring the proper clothing for the big night.

What I did on Friday Night: Friday was the big day and most of it was spent preparing. The evening was utterly delightful! DH, Twin A, and myself all dressed up for a formal dinner and awards ceremony.

The Theatre department knows how to put on a brilliant show. After a delicious catered dinner we were entertained by the cast as well as the presenters of the awards. We were shocked and thrilled for our son who won The Best Rising Star award. The evening ended with the unveiling of the line-up of plays and musicals for the 2010-2011 season and everyone appeared quite pleased with the selections. Auditions begin in a mere 5 days! If you have a school near you, go and see the performances, there are a lot of talent teens out there.

For those wondering (and who was not on edge about these facts?) my fingernails and toenails looked lovely and red, the little black dress fit well, I wore a red wrap and DH wore a matching red tie, I was able to walk in my extremely high heels without twisting or breaking anything and finally, I did not have any runs in my pantyhose, which I consider a huge achievement.

Saturday Night: Family movie night! This may not appear to be a big deal, unless one happens to have three teens, in which case, having them all home at once is cause for celebration.

Read and Reviewed: This past week was a rather slow review week for me considering all the excitement of the past week. I read and reviewed 11 books, actually one was a DNF, but it is spotlighted, I did almost finish it. I shall, as usual, list all the reviews I read this past week on Monday with links. Do not want to wait until Monday? They are all up and as usual I love comments.

So what will I be reading? I am currently reading A Hollow Crown by Helen Hollick and will also be reading The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch. Check back for reviews.

Happy Reading and please feel free to leave comments or suggestions.

Visit the The Sunday Salon.

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Book Review: Plan B by Pete Wilson

Saturday 29 May, 2010 By 3 Comments

Title: Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?
Author: Pete Wilson
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: May 4, 2010
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN: 978-0849946509
Genre: Spirituality

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About the Book:

Learn how God often does His best work in our most hopeless situations.

What do you do when a shattered dream or an unmet expectation causes you to turn to Plan B? Pastor and author Pete Wilson uses real life stories of disappointments and tragedy along with biblical stories such as David, Joseph, and Ruth to help readers face their own overwhelming situations and through them to learn God is working to help them surrender their plans to receive His. He identifies our common responses to difficulties and offers hope, helping us to

Understand what God might be up to See how surrender helps us to receive God’s plan Embrace the community of believers Reconcile a God of love with a life of tragedy and suffering Wilson points readers to the cross as not just the starting line but the centerpiece of our stories with God where we turn in our Plan B and find the undeniable relationship between crisis and true spiritual transformation.

My Review:

Life does not always go as planned which is where Plan B By Pete Wilson comes into play. Through the use of Biblical and modern references, Wilson assures the reader that God does not leave a person in need; rather He is always present, even if one does not see it at the time. Many would be hard pressed to view the loss of a job, a home, or loved one as a blessed event, yet Wilson gently guides the reader toward a healing and more positive approach to some of life’s curve balls. Wilson clearly demonstrates to the reader in a clear and concise manner that God is always present and that there are solutions, but one must be open to hearing them as well as seeing them when these solutions present themselves, and although they may not be what we hoped for or when we wished they would appear, yet appear they do. Plan B offers the reader hope, guidance and insight into some of the darker moments one may experience, without the added preachiness or “have you been saved” tones other books have used. I found Plan B to be an extremely enlightening book and I would recommend Plan B to anyone going through a rough patch in their life.

I received a complimentary copy of Plan B by Pete Wilson from Thomas Nelson as for review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares

Saturday 29 May, 2010 By 6 Comments

Title: My Name Is Memory
Author: Ann Brashares
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN: 978-1594487583
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

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From the Publisher:

Daniel has spent centuries falling in love with the same girl. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Sophia (despite her changing name and form) have been drawn together-and he remembers it all. Daniel has “the memory”, the ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he’s previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times that he and Sophia have been drawn together throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart. A love always too short.

Interwoven through Sophia and Daniel’s unfolding present day relationship are glimpses of their expansive history together. From 552 Asia Minor to 1918 England and 1972 Virginia, the two souls share a long and sometimes torturous path of seeking each other time and time again. But just when young Sophia (now “Lucy” in the present) finally begins to awaken to the secret of their shared past, to understand the true reason for the strength of their attraction, the mysterious force that has always torn them apart reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together.

A magical, suspenseful, heartbreaking story of true love, My Name is Memory proves the power and endurance of a union that was meant to be.

My Review:

My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares tackles the question: Does true love last forever? Her novel is told in alternating voices between Michael, who has lived many lives, the earliest memory of life he has begins in 520 A.D., and Lucy Broward, who used to be Sophia a long, long time ago, yet she has no recollection of her past life until one day at her Senior High party. When Daniel confronts her, a part of her knows he is speaking the truth while the other part of her thinks he is insane, prompting her to flee the party. A few years later, while in college Lucy and her roommate Marnie and two other friends visit Madame Esme, a fortuneteller who basically tells everyone but Lucy the same spiel. When Lucy has her reading, Madame Esme speaks of Sophia and Constance, just as Daniel did, and she spoke of the evening Daniel confronted her. Lucy wants to believe it is hokum, yet this woman knew things no one else knew. Daniel wants to try talking with Lucy one more time, but figures he best wait a while longer until he sees on television a man he does not know, but who he recognizes, a man who could put not only Daniel in danger but also Lucy. My Name Is Memory is an intriguing look into true love; the idea on rebirth, past lives, and experiences one takes from them. Brashares writes with vivid detail and descriptions of various times and places, her characters are well thought out and for many this will make a delightful read. While I enjoyed the story, My Name Is Memory is not a book I would have chosen for myself. I do believe there are many who will find this book impossible to put down. Please read other reviews, as this is an exceptional novel, it just was not one of my preferred genres.

About the Author:

Ann Brashares is the author of the phenomenal five-million-copies-selling series of young adult novels, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls In Pants, and Forever in Blue, and the New York Times bestselling adult novel The Last Summer (of You and Me). For more information please visit the author’s website.

I received a complimentary copy of My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares from Riverhead Books to review. Receiving a free copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Tour & Review: Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White

Friday 28 May, 2010 By 1 Comment

Title: Every Boat Turns South
Author: J.P. White
Publisher: Permanent Press
Publication Date: September 1, 2009
Hardcover: 240 pages
ISBN: 978-1579621889
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fiction

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About the Book:

Every Boat Turns South mixes memoir-like adventure with a moving coming-home tale. The book opens and closes in Florida, but its sultry and terror-filled center is set in the Turks & Caicos Islands and in the Dominican Republic. By interweaving the Florida bedside scenes with Matt’s confessional account of his wild life in the Caribbean, White subtly builds sympathy for his ne er-do-well drifter, as Matt slowly reveals the truth about Hale by coming to understand his own impulses and needs and by cherishing, through memory, all that his father had taught him. The writing in both sections forcefully lyrical and full of maritime detail (sailors will love this book) suggests an autobiographical prompt, but clearly the author is in command of a style that effectively serves his complex plot. The flashbacks pulse with sensuality, the take on island natives and tourists is nothing less than superb: The hotel swarms with interracial couples strung together like rosary beads . . . white women, pale as chalk, lean into black men like they ve found the Rosetta stone. White men pull at strings of mulatto women like taffy. Meringue and rum, greed and sex rule. Everything. Everyone. As one of the novel s shrewd and exotic characters says, we all have our weaknesses once we get to the islands.

My Review:

Action, adventure and drama on and off the high seas can be found in J.P. White’s debut novel Every Boat Turns South. The novel is told in a form of a confession to J.P.’s father after the protagonist, Matt Younger, makes his way back to Florida, shattered and without a penny to his name. Neither his mother Emily nor his father Jack “Skip” Younger is pleased to see him. Desperate for a drink and money, content with knowledge of where his father Skip keeps the hidden loot, his present concerns are to unburden himself. His father is dying and his mother assigns her only living son night duty, which works well, as he has wants, or rather needs, to confess all he has done these past three years to Skip. Once that is accomplished will he finally tell his side of the story the day Hale died. Every Boat Turns South is filled with action, adventure, prostitutes, criminals, running drugs and more, all of which is revealed in flashback by Matt, the prodigal son who returns home after a three year absence, in time to bare his soul to his dying father, and in so doing to find redemption. Through vivid imagery, near lyrical prose, and vibrant characters the reader is taken on a journey of the most unsavory kind through the Caribbean. Matt is an alcoholic who cannot hold down a job and has grown up in the shadow of his older brother Hale, whose death he has been blamed for. He forged his credentials and hired a crew from a bar to set sail on the Stardust, island hopping to the Bahamas, yet nothing goes quite as planned. Matt hopes to redeem himself in the eyes of his dying father and exhausted mother and start a new life. Every Boat Turns South is a wonderfully written debut novel by J.P. White and one that will resonate with the reader long after the book has ended and would make for an intriguing discussion group pick.

About the Author:

In the last 35 years, J.P. White has published essays, articles, fiction, reviews, interviews and poetry in over a hundred publications including The Nation, The New Republic, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Gettysburg Review, American Poetry Review, and Poetry (Chicago). He is a graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida, Colorado State University and Vermont College in Fine Arts. He is the author of five books of poems and a novel, Every Boat Turns South.

For more information about J.P. White, you can visit his website.


J.P. White’s EVERY BOAT TURNS SOUTH VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR ‘10 officially began on May 3 and end on June 25 2010. You can visit J.P.’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.comduring the month of May to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of Every Boat Turns South by J.P. White from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips

Thursday 27 May, 2010 By 3 Comments

Title: The Devlin Diary
Author: Christi Phillips
Publisher: Gallery
Publication Date: April 13, 2010
Paperback: 464 pages
ISBN: 978-1416527404
Genre: Historical Fiction

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From the Publisher:

From the bestselling author of The Rossetti Letter comes a “thrilling” (Library Journal) novel of intrigue, passion, and royal secrets that shifts tantalizingly between Restoration-era London and present-day Cambridge, England.

London, 1672. A vicious killer stalks the court of Charles II, inscribing the victims’ bodies with mysterious markings.Are the murders the random acts of a madman?Or the violent effects of a deeply hidden conspiracy?

Cambridge, 2008. Teaching history at Trinity College is Claire Donovan’s dream come true—until one of her colleagues is found dead on the banks of the River Cam. The only key to the professor’s unsolved murder is the seventeenth-century diary kept by his last research subject, Hannah Devlin, physician to the king’s mistress. Through the arcane collections of Cambridge’s most eminent libraries, Claire and fellow historian Andrew Kent follow the clues Hannah left behind, uncovering secrets of London’s dark past and Cambridge’s murky present and discovering that the events of three hundred years ago still have consequences today. . . .

My Review:

Intellectually stimulating, enticing, and deeply intriguing, The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips will have the reader engrossed before the end of the first page.

Claire Donovan is fulfilling her dream; she is an official temporary lecturer at Trinity College with no small thanks to Dr. Andrew Kent. All things considered, her beginning is not an auspicious one, yet she is enjoying her time and has discovered a brilliant idea for a paper. The only problem is that in her enthusiasm, she shared her idea and within a week Dr. Kent claimed the idea was his. Soon the whole college is aware of their difficulties and before clearing her name he is unfortunately found dead.

Meanwhile in 1672, Lord Arlington, the King’s most trusted minister, arrests Mrs. Hannah Devlin, a famous physik giving Hannah a choice, to be imprisoned in Newgate for practising physik without a license or go to Whitehall, no questions asked. She chooses Whitehall and discovers herself the private physician to the 22-year-old Louise de Keroualle, the King’s mistress, maid of honor to his late sister and lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine. This young woman, the King’s favourite mistress, recently birthed her first child and the King’s 13th and she is unfortunately suffering from a venereal disease, the clap, much preferable to the pox and quite possibly treatable. Hannah notices Whitehall is fairly empty save Lord Arlington and Madam Severin, yet not all is as it appears.

Phillips’ novel is a work of brilliance where she seamlessly weaves between the 17th and 21st centuries, and ultimately linking the two together in page turning plot developments and twists. Her main characters are strong, independent, and very likeable women separated by centuries. Phillips breathes life into each character from the most prominent in her novel to the most minor character; the reader will feel as though they are keenly aware of everyone in the story. The attention to detail and imagery draws the reader into London and Cambridge during the respective time periods. The Devlin Diary will immediately draw the reader in, rendering the reader unable or unwilling to put the novel down.

My one and only complaint is not against the novel nor the author, but myself. I wish I had read Christi Phillips’ previous novel, The Rossetti Letter, a problem I shall remedy before her third novel is released. While The Devlin Diary is brilliant enough to stand on its own merits, I would like to have read her previous novel to see if it truly is as masterfully written as The Devlin Diary.

It is quite impossible for me to praise this novel enough without giving away any more details. Suffice it to say this is one novel I not only thoroughly enjoyed but one I shall read repeatedly over time. The Devlin Diary will, at the very least, take the reader on an unforgettable journey with exceptionally well-written characters and well-placed settings. Without reservation I recommend The Devlin Diary to all readers and discussion groups because it is indeed that brilliant.

About the Author:

Christi Phillips is the author of The Rossetti Letter, which has been translated into six foreign languages. Her research combines a few of her favorite things: old books, libraries, and travel. When she’s not rummaging around in an archive or exploring the historic heart of a European city, she lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is at work on her next novel, set in France. Visit her website for more information.

I received a complimentary copy of The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips from Simon & Schuster to review. Receiving a free copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Tour & Review: Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley

Thursday 27 May, 2010 By 3 Comments

Title: Life After Yes
Author: Aidan Donnelley Rowley
Publisher: Avon A
Publication Date: May 18, 2010
Hardcover: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0061894473
Genre: Fiction

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From the Publisher:

“Music plays. Dad appears. I walk with him, eyes fastened to the floor. When I look up, something is very wrong. There are three grooms.”

This is the story of Quinn—born Prudence Quinn O’Malley—a confused young Manhattan attorney who loses her father on that tragic September morning that changed everything. Now, at an existential crossroads in her life, Quinn must confront impossible questions about commitment and career, love and loss. Her idealistic beau desperately wants a wedding, and whisks her away to Paris just to propose. But then Quinn has a dream featuring judges and handcuffs and Nietzsche and Britney . . . and far too many grooms. Suddenly, her future isn’t so clear. Quinn’s world has become a minefield of men—some living, some gone, and traversing it safely is going to take a lot more than numerous glasses of pinot grigio.

Life After Yes is a blisteringly honest, thoroughly modern tale of life and love in chaos, marking the arrival of a truly exciting new voice in contemporary fiction.

My Review:

Deeply philosophical, sharp and witty, without a doubt Aidan Donnelley Rowley’s book, Life After Yes, will be one of my top picks for the year. Reading Life After Yes is similar to spending time listening to your best friend, the one with all the wit, yet never realising they are witty, telling their story. I personally have a friend like this and I adore listening his stories so for me, Rowley’s writing feels familiar and her characters quickly become friends. The main character, Prudence Quinn O’Malley is going through a series of major life changes. Her father was killed in one of the towers during 9/11, a few months later she is whisked off to Paris and becomes engaged, all the while trying to navigate the world of being a relatively new attorney. As Quinn thinks of her life she has disturbing dreams of her ex-boyfriend Phelps, her current Fiancé Sage McIntyre and Victor, her personal trainer. Quinn is a flawed and uncertain, making her endearing to the reader, along with her quick wit and unpretentious behavior, she is a delightful character. Rowley writes a masterfully crafted novel, with flashbacks, personal character revelations, and descriptive imagery. Throughout the novel it is quite clear Rowley wants to share her love of Manhattan with the reader. Quinn’s two best friends Avery and Kayla are complete opposites and together comprise both sides of Quinn. The subject matter is at times rather deep, philosophical, and uncertain, yet Rowley uses her characters’ sharp wits to keep the story from becoming too heavy or depressing. Life After Yes is a novel that the reader will fall into and not want to end. Past, present and the fear of the unknown future are all intricately woven into this wonderful book. I highly recommend Life After Yes to any reader, and strongly advise book discussion groups to chose this novel.


About the Author:

Aidan Donnelley Rowley is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School who writes about life as a mother and writer on her blog Ivy League Insecurities. She was born and raised in New York City, where she lives with her husband and two young daughters. Life After Yes is her first novel. For more information visit her website, follow her on Twitter, and Facebook.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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Book Review: Welcome to Harmony by Jodi Thomas

Wednesday 26 May, 2010 By 7 Comments

Title: Welcome to Harmony
Author: Jodi Thomas
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Paperback: 384 pages
ISBN: 978-0425235102
Genre: Fiction

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From the Publisher:

Sixteen-year-old runaway Reagan has always wanted a place to belong. She’s never had a real home of her own, but perhaps she could borrow someone else’s. Under an assumed name and identity, she moves to Harmony, Texas, but keeps her distance from the welcoming townsfolk. Until prairie fires threaten Harmony-and Reagan learns the true meaning of family, friends, and home.

My Review:

Beautiful and heartwarming, Welcome to Harmony by Jodi Thomas is a definite feel good novel about finding roots and belonging. Reagan is 16 years old and looking for a place to call home. After cleaning Beverly Truman’s nursing home room she has learned all about this woman’s home in the small town of Harmony and without knowing why, feels as though she belongs there. When Beverly passes away Reagan finds her way to Harmony and becomes Reagan Truman. The only person certain she is not a Truman is the cantankerous brother of Beverly, who takes Reagan under his wing, much to the surprise of the town. Reagan is trying to keep it their secret yet Noah McAllen, the sheriff’s younger brother, also known as “preacher” is quickly becoming her friend and Reagan, unaccustomed to kindness, friendships, and people caring for her, is uncertain how to proceed. Harmony, Texas is like no other town; it is equally divided into three sections belonging to the Trumans, the Mathesons, and the McAllens. Old family grudges are still alive and kicking in this old town as well as a fair share of secrets. Hank Matheson, rancher, head of the volunteer fire department and all around great guy promised his best friend, Warren McAllen, that he would take care of his sister, Alex McAllen. Alex McAllen, who took over becoming sheriff of Harmony when her brother Warren died, has other plans, which do not include Hank. Finally Tyler Wright, the only funeral director in the town and who has no idea how to talk to many people besides Hank and Saralynn, discovers an online relationship a woman named Kate. Is love in the air, will the old grudges be buried once and for all and will Harmony truly unite or will all be exposed when push comes to shove? Welcome to Harmony is a definite page-turner filled with an array of characters from gregarious to cantankerous and everything in between. The reader will have no trouble identifying with Thomas’ characters. Thomas draws the reader into Harmony with her descriptive prose, witty and delightful narrative and a plot line that steps just outside what the reader may expect and takes the reader on a delightful journey into the lives of the inhabitants of Harmony. I found Welcome to Harmony to be an extremely delightful and enjoyable book to read. To my dismay the end came too soon and my only complaint is that I must wait until fall for the next in the Harmony trilogy, Somewhere Along the Way, to be released. I would not hesitate to recommend Welcome to Harmony to any reader.

To learn more about Jodi Thomas and the other books she has written, please visit her website.

I received a complimentary copy of Welcome To Harmony by Jodi Thomas from Penguin to review. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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