FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author & Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp was a different book compared to books that I have been reading lately. I did read another book by this author last year you can click here to check out that review and book if you missed it. This book was different from the other one, and I think I liked this book even more than the first one I read by her. This book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout most of it because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen or where this book was going to end up. I spent most of the book wanting to know that why everyone in the town of “Lost” was acting so strange. There were quite a few spots in this book that made me take a step back and wonder what was really going on. Like when Corey was looking at a painting that Kyra had done before she died and in the painting, she (Kyra) was under the ice and come to find out that is how she actually died, so it took me by surprise. If you like YA fiction than I would for sure read this book because I am sure you will enjoy it.
About The Book
Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. When Corey moves away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter, and wait for her return.
Just days before Corey is to return home to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones about the town’s lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she’s a stranger.
Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to her best friend may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter…
About The Author
Marieke Nijkamp a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, geek. She’s the author of THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS and the forthcoming BEFORE I LET GO.
Her short stories can be found in: PILGRIM PLAYWRIGHT GENIE GUARD, FERAL YOUTH, and THE RADICAL ELEMENT.
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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
Looking Glass Lies by Varina Denman was a hard book for me to get and stay interested in this book. I had a hard time with this book because I have never struggled with what Cecily was so I couldn’t understand or even feel like I could relate to what she was going through in her life. I know that women who do go through things like this would probably relate and get more out of the book than I did. I just found myself annoyed and not able to understand what she was going through during this book. I did like how you got to see as she grew throughout this book because I think that it give others hope who are dealing with the same things. I am sure that this book would be perfect for people who do go through things like this, but it just wasn’t the right fit for me.
About The Book
A poignant and relatable novel, Looking Glass Lies captures the war women wage against themselves, and the struggle to see beauty reflected in a mirror not distorted by society’s unrelenting expectations.
For most of her adult life, Cecily Ross has compared herself to other women—and come up short. After a painful divorce from her emotionally abusive husband, Cecily returns to her hometown of Canyon, Texas, looking to heal.
But coming home isn’t what she expects. In a town as small as Canyon, her pain is difficult to escape—especially with her model-perfect ex–sister-in-law working at the town’s popular coffee-shop hangout. With help from her father, a support group, and an old friend who guides her to see her own strengths, Cecily may have a shot at overcoming her insecurities and learning to love again.
The true test comes when tragedy strikes, opening Cecily’s eyes to the harmfulness of her distorted views on beauty—and giving her the perfect opportunity to find peace at last.
About The Author
Varina Denman writes stories about the unique struggles women face. Her award-winning Mended Hearts series, which revolves around church hurt, is a compelling blend of women’s fiction and inspirational romance. Her latest novel, Looking Glass Lies, releases in May. A native Texan, Varina lives near Fort Worth with her husband and five mostly grown children. Connect with Varina on her website or one of the social media hangouts.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa was a great book. I am a huge fan of books like this because WWII is so interesting to me and this book was one of the better ones that I have read lately. I love that this book goes between Hannah’s time and also modern times as you follow along with Anna. I also love that this book talked about things I didn’t know had happened during WWII. I have read tons of books about WWII, and I loved that I was able to learn about some of the other things that people dealt with during WWII. I was sad when this book came to an end because I loved all of the characters in this book. This book is also the first book that I have read by this author, and after this book, I have added him to my list of authors that I want to read more books by in the future. If you love WWII books and are looking something different I would recommend this book to you.
About The Book
A stunningly ambitious and beautiful debut novel, perfect for fans of Sarah’s Key and All the Light We Cannot See, the story of a twelve-year-old girl’s harrowing experience fleeing Nazi-occupied Germany with her family and best friend, only to discover that the overseas asylum they had been promised is an illusion.
In 1939 before everything changed, Hannah Rosenthal lived a charmed life. Her family moved in Berlin’s highest social circles, admired by friends and neighbors. Eleven-year-old Hannah was often taken by her mother for an afternoon treat at the tea room of the beautiful Adlon Hotel, both dressed in their finest clothes. She spent her afternoons at the park with her best friend Leo Martin. But, in an instant, that sunlit world vanished. Now the streets of Berlin are draped with red, white, and black flags; their fine possessions are hauled away, and they are no longer welcome in the places that once felt like home. The two friends make a pact: come what may, they promise to have a future together.
As Hannah and Leo’s families desperately begin to search for a means of escape, a glimmer of hope appears when they discover the Saint Louis, a transatlantic liner that can give Jews safe passage to Cuba. After a frantic search to obtain visas, the Rosenthals and the Martins depart from Hamburg on the luxurious passenger liner bound for Havana. Life aboard the ship is a welcome respite from the gloom of Berlin—filled with masquerade balls, dancing, and exquisite meals every night.
As the passengers gain renewed hope for a bright future ahead, love between Hannah and Leo blossoms. But soon reports from the outside world began to filter in, and dark news overshadows the celebratory atmosphere on the ship; the governments of Cuba, the United States, and Canada are denying the passengers of the St. Louis admittance to their countries, forcing them to return to Europe as it descends into the Second World War. The ship that had seemed their salvation seems likely to become their death sentence.
After four days anchored at bay, only a handful of passengers are allowed to disembark onto Cuban soil, and Hannah and Leo must face the grim reality that they could be torn apart. Their future is unknown, and their only choice will have an impact in generations to come.
Decades later in New York City on her eleventh birthday, Anna Rosen receives a mysterious envelope from Hannah, a great-aunt she has never met but who raised her deceased father. In an attempt to piece together her father’s mysterious past, Anna and her mother travel to Havana to meet Hannah, who is turning eighty-seven years old. Hannah reveals old family ties, recounts her journey aboard the Saint Louis and, for the first time, reveals what happened to her father and Leo. Bringing together the pain of the past with the mysteries of the present, Hannah gives young Anna a sense of their shared histories, forever intertwining their lives, honoring those they loved and cruelly lost.
ith 20 years of experience in Hispanic media, award-winning journalist and author Armando Lucas Correa is the Editor in Chief of PEOPLE EN ESPAÑOL, the top selling Hispanic magazine in the U.S. with more than 7 million readers every month. In his role, he oversees the editorial content of the magazine, PeopleEnEspanol.com and its digital editions for tablets and mobile.
He also oversees the brand’s social media strategy and events like 50 Most Beautiful (New York), the 25 Most Powerful Women (Miami), as well as Festival
People en Español (New York).
In Cuba, he entered the world of print journalism in 1988 when he was appointed the editor of Tablas, a national theater and dance magazine based out of Havana, Cuba.
Correa is the recipient of various outstanding achievement awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications and the Society of Professional Journalism. He is the magazine’s primary spokesperson and regularly appears on national Spanish-language television programs discussing celebrity news and scoops.
His book En busca de Emma (In Search of Emma: Two Fathers, One Daughter and the Dream of a Family) was published by Rayo, Harper Collins in 2007 and for Aguilar, Santillana (Mexico) in 2009. His first novel The German Girl will be published in October in Enlgish and Spanish by Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster.
He currently resides in Manhattan with his partner and their three children.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
Our Own Country by Jodi Daynard was an interesting book. This was a very typical historical fiction book, and those tend to get old to me pretty quickly. This was a good book, but it is one that by the time I was done with the book I was just over it. This book took place during the Revolutionary War, and I think that is part of the reason that I got bored with this book. I am finding that I have a hard time getting into books that take place before WWII because they are just too old for me. This book was well written, and I really did enjoy the characters in this book. She also did a great job of making you feel as if you are there with the characters as well. If you love historical fiction books, I am sure you will enjoy this book it just wasn’t right for me.
About The Book
A love affair tests a new nation’s revolutionary ideals.
In 1770s Boston, a prosperous merchant’s daughter, Eliza Boylston, lives a charmed life—until war breaches the walls of the family estate and forces her to live in a world in which wealth can no longer protect her.
As the chaos of the Revolutionary War tears her family apart, Eliza finds herself drawn to her uncle’s slave, John Watkins. Their love leads to her exile in Braintree, Massachusetts, home to radicals John and Abigail Adams and Eliza’s midwife sister-in-law, Lizzie Boylston. But even as the uprising takes hold, Eliza can’t help but wonder whether a rebel victory will grant her and John the most basic of American rights.
About The Author
Jodi Daynard is a writer of fiction, essays, and criticism. Her work has appeared in numerous periodicals, including The New York Times Book Review, The Village Voice, The Paris Review, Agni, New England Review and in several anthologies. She is the author of The Place Within: Portraits of the American Landscape by 20 Contemporary Writers (W. W. Norton). Ms. Daynard’s essays have been nominated for several prizes and mentioned in Best American Essays. She has taught writing at Harvard University, M.I.T., and in the MFA program at Emerson College, and served for seven years as Fiction Editor at Boston Review. The Midwife’s Revolt is the first of a trilogy.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
The Cutaway by Christina Kovac was a good book. I knew that I was probably going to enjoy this book because let’s be honest this is the typical book that I love. It took me about a chapter to get into the book because it was a slower start for me. I liked the characters in this book, and I loved that the characters aren’t the typical characters that you see in books within this genre. I found that because the characters are the usual characters that you see that I was more engaged because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending but when you read as many books as I do that happens from time to time. If you love mystery books and are looking for something different within the genre, then I think you should check this book out. If you have read it what did you think of it?
About The Book
The Cutaway draws you into the tangled world of corruption and cover-up as a young television producer investigates the disappearance of a beautiful Georgetown lawyer in this stunning psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Paula Hawkins and Gillian Flynn.
When brilliant TV news producer Virginia Knightly receives a disturbing “MISSING” notice on her desk related to the disappearance of a beautiful young attorney, she can’t seem to shake the image from her head. Despite skepticism from her colleagues, Knightly suspects this ambitious young lawyer may be at the heart of something far more sinister, especially since she was last seen leaving an upscale restaurant after a domestic dispute. Yet, as the only woman of power at her station, Knightly quickly finds herself investigating on her own.
Risking her career, her life, and perhaps even her own sanity, Knightly dives deep into the dark underbelly of Washington, DC business and politics in an investigation that will drag her mercilessly through the inextricable webs of corruption that bind the press, the police, and politics in our nation’s capital.
Harkening to dark thrillers such as Gone Girl, Luckiest Girl Alive, and Big Little Lies, The Cutaway is a striking debut that will haunt you long after you reach the last page.
About The Author
Christina Kovac managed newsrooms and produced crime and political stories in the District. Her career as a television journalist began with Fox 5’s Ten O’Clock News, followed by the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. For the last nine years, she worked at the Washington Bureau of NBC News. She lives with her family outside of Washington D.C.
FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.
The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt was a hard book for me stay interested in. Once I was about halfway in I did want to finish the book but this is one of those books that took me longer to get through because I would always want to read other books instead of this one. I really was interested in this book because of the back cover, and that is why I didn’t give up on it even though it took me a few months to read the entire book. I did feel like the book was slow in some parts and in others parts it almost went too fast. If you enjoy mystery books than I would for sure tell you to check this book out and let me know what you think of it.
About The Book
From the author of Remember Mia comes the tale of a young woman in search of her past, and the mother who will do anything to keep it hidden…
What if you were the worst crime your mother ever committed?
Dahlia Waller’s childhood memories consist of stuffy cars, seedy motels, and a rootless existence traveling the country with her eccentric mother. Now grown, she desperately wants to distance herself from that life. Yet one thing is stopping her from moving forward: she has questions.
In order to understand her past, Dahlia must go back. Back to her mother in the stifling town of Aurora, Texas. Back into the past of a woman on the brink of madness. But after she discovers three grave-like mounds on a neighboring farm, she ll learn that in her mother s world of secrets, not all questions are meant to be answered…
About The Author
Born in Fulda, Germany, a baroque town in the East Hesse Highlands, I spent my childhood accompanying my two older brothers on local countryside adventures, roaming abandoned farm houses, ancient beech woods cratered by WW2 bombings, and sandstone towers rumored to have housed witches waiting to be burned at the stakes. A gluttonous reader long before online bookstores, grocery store crime novels, and large book chains cropped up in every city, I made do with a small town library in the city hall building. After I exhausted the children’s section, I moved on to crime fiction and serial killers.
While pursuing literary translations, I decided to tell my own stories. After three years of writing classes and gluttonous reading, my short fiction appeared in the Freedom Fiction Journal, All Things Girl, and MUSED Literary Review.
I currently live in Central Texas with my husband, my daughter, and two Chocolate Labrador Retrievers.
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