Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Release Day! The Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle ~ My Thoughts #ThePersonalAssistant @KimberlySBelle @HTPBooks

Happy Release Day!

Congrats Kimberly
on the release today of
The Personal Assistant!

The Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle
Psychological Thriller, 352 pages
Published November 29, 2022 by Park Row

USA Today bestselling author Kimberly Belle returns with a deeply addictive thriller exploring the dark side of the digital world when a mommy-blogger’s assistant goes missing.

When Alex first began posting unscripted family moments and motivational messages online, she had no intention of becoming an influencer. Overnight it seemed she’d amassed a huge following, and her hobby became a full-time job—one that was impossible to manage without her sharp-as-a-tack personal assistant, AC.

But all the good-will of her followers turns toxic when one controversial post goes viral in the worst possible way. Alex reaches out to AC for damage control, but her assistant has gone silent. This young woman Alex trusted with all her secrets, who had access to her personal information and front row seats to the pressure points in her marriage and family life, is now missing and the police are looking to Alex and her husband for answers. As Alex digs into AC’s identity – and a woman is found murdered – she’ll find the greatest threat isn’t online, but in her own living room.

Written in alternating perspectives between Alex, her husband, and the mysterious AC, this juicy cat and mouse story will keep you guessing till the very end.


My thoughts about The Personal Assistant ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)

First line—"This is how it begins, flying down a country road. Windows down, music blaring."

I don't know how Kimberly Belle does it time after time but she has once again created an exciting psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, as you try to figure out what the heck is going on. I was immediately drawn into this story, a series of events that could totally happen in today's society, what with the social media world that so many people find themselves immersed in. 

Alex is a social media influencer who finds herself exposed as something she is not, virtually overnight. Someone has basically hacked into her online persona and seems to be determined to ruin her. And just when you think that things can't get any worse for Alex and her family, well yep, they do. 

I went back and forth between the characters, wondering who was causing the problems, who was the bad person, and who was telling the truth. It was interesting going back and forth between Alex, her husband, and her personal assistant, trying to figure out the connections and the drama between the characters. 

The Personal Assistant will stun you and rock your world when you realize that someone can totally be destroyed by social media, having so much of your life out there in the world for all to see and manipulate. I highly recommend this thriller and I know you will not be disappointed when you read it. It was amazing!

I received a copy of The Personal Assistant from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

About the author


Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of eight novels, including The Personal Assistant, The Marriage Lie, a Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist for Best Mystery & Thriller, and the co-authored #1 Audible Original, Young Rich Widows. Her books have been published in some 20+ languages and have been optioned for film and television.

Connect with Kimberly

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Monday, November 28, 2022

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? November 28, 2022 #IMWAYR

        

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are! 

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Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. 
Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

So Long, Chester Wheeler
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Pub date December 6

Before Ever After
by Samantha Sotto

Vendetta in Death
by J.D. Robb
Narrated by Susan Ericksen

What I recently finished

Wish
by Barbara O'Connor
Recommended by my neighbor's 9 year-old granddaughter, so of course I had to read it. 💖

No Names to Be Given
by Julia Brewer Daily

The Great Jackalope Stampede
by Ann Charles
Narrated by Lisa Larsen

What I am going to read next

Last Circle of Love: A Novel
by Lorna Landvik
Pub date December 6

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Saturday, November 26, 2022

This OR That #Giveaway № 80 ~ The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner OR All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner #TheGuyNotTaken #AllFallDown

 

I have sooooo many books!

The This or That Giveaway! feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to cull my collection and to share some of the many books I have. I get to clear off some of my shelves to make room for more books and give someone else the chance to enjoy these treasures.

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

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The Guy Not Taken
by Jennifer Weiner
Hardcover ~ Published September 2006


Jennifer Weiner's talent shines like never before in this collection of short stories, following the tender, and often hilarious, progress of love and relationships over the course of a lifetime. From a teenager coming to terms with her father's disappearance to a widow accepting two young women into her home, Weiner's eleven stories explore those transformative moments in our every day.

We meet Marlie Davidow, home alone with her new baby late one Friday night, when she wanders onto her ex's online wedding registry and wonders what if she had wound up with the guy not taken. We stumble on Good in Bed's Bruce Guberman, liquored-up and ready for anything on the night of his best friend's bachelor party, until stealing his girlfriend's tiny rat terrier becomes more complicated than he'd planned. We find Jessica Norton listing her beloved New York City apartment in the hope of winning her broker's heart. And we follow an unlikely friendship between two very different new mothers, and the choices that bring them together -- and pull them apart.

The Guy Not Taken demonstrates Weiner's amazing ability to create characters who "feel like they could be your best friend" (Janet Maslin) and to find hope and humor, longing and love in the hidden corners of our common experiences.

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All Fall Down
by Jennifer Weiner
Hardcover (no dust jacket) ~ Published June 2014

Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, adorable daughter, a job she loves, and the big house in the suburbs. But while waiting in the pediatrician’s office, she opens a magazine to a quiz about addiction and starts to wonder…Is a Percocet at the end of the day really different from a glass of wine? Is it such a bad thing to pop a Vicodin after a brutal Jump & Pump class…or if your husband ignores you?

The pills help her manage the realities of her good-looking life: that her husband is distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother is barely managing to cope. She tells herself that they let her make it through her days…but what if her increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all?

With a sparkling comedic touch and a cast of unforgettable characters, this remarkable story of a woman’s slide into addiction and struggle to find her way back up again is Jennifer Weiner’s most masterful work yet.

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Thursday, November 24, 2022

Happy Thanksgiving to You All!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Let this be a day to indulge in friends, 
family, good food, and good books!

Happy reading everyone!!  

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Monday, November 21, 2022

Where in the World Has The Book Bag Been? #Giveaway!


Remember this show?

I kind of feel like this is my life right now. I think in the last month, I have been away more than I've been home.

In late October, hubs and I had a planned trip to fly to Arizona to visit his sister and her family. Well, as we were on our way there, she lost her battle with cancer and it ended up being a different sort of trip for us. This woman was indeed a fighter and battled for almost 20 years. About 11 years ago, her brother, my husband, was able to give her a bone marrow transplant when she developed leukemia. They were an almost 100% match! That miracle gave her family many more years to love her.

Then two weeks ago, there was a memorial held for her in Colorado, where they had lived for many years. Since we are both retired and could take our time getting there and back, we decided to drive to CO. We spent several days there, visiting with family. My sister and her husband were also able to join us for a few days. It was so great to see everyone, even though it was a sad reason for all of us to get together.


Then we took off to take the long way home. We spent some more time in Colorado, then went on to Wyoming.


After that, we made it to The Black Hills just as a big snow storm was coming in. We hunkered down there for 4 days waiting for the mountain road to clear off so we could drive back down and head home.


We finally got home last night after being gone for almost two weeks. It was a fun trip but it is always so nice to get home Don't you agree?

So anyway, that is why posts have been few and far between here on The Book Bag. I have a few pre-scheduled posts that went up while I was gone but for the most part I had no access to internet, or I was busy enjoying my family and the sights around me. But I'm back now, ready to go again! I have several giveaways to draw winners for and I will get those names selected soon.

But for now, why not celebrate with a GIVEAWAY!!


I will gift the winner any Kindle book they want that is $5.99 or less.


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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? November 21, 2022 #IMWAYR

       

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are! 

**************************************

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. 
Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Before Ever After
by Samantha Sotto
Last book for this year's reading challenge.

The Great Jackalope Stampede
by Ann Charles
Narrated by Lisa Larsen

What I recently finished

The Personal Assistant
by Kimberly Bell
Pub date November 29

Where We Fall
by Rochelle B. Weinstein

I Choose Darkness
by Jenny Lawson

What I am going to read next

No Names to Be Given
by Julia Brewer Daily

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Saturday, November 12, 2022

This OR That #Giveaway Week 79 ~ Two Winners! Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman OR The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich #LadyInTheLake #TheRecoveryAgent

 

I have sooooo many books!

The This or That Giveaway! feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to cull my collection and to share some of the many books I have. I get to clear off some of my shelves to make room for more books and give someone else the chance to enjoy these treasures.

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

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Lady in the Lake
by Laura Lippman
ARC ~ Published July 2019


The revered New York Times bestselling author returns with a novel set in 1960s Baltimore that combines modern psychological insights with elements of classic noir, about a middle-aged housewife turned aspiring reporter who pursues the murder of a forgotten young woman.

In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know--everyone, that is, except Madeline "Maddie" Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she's bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life. 

Maddie wants to matter, to leave her mark on a swiftly changing world. Drawing on her own secrets, she helps Baltimore police find a murdered girl--assistance that leads to a job at the city's afternoon newspaper, the Star. Working at the newspaper offers Maddie the opportunity to make her name, and she has found just the story to do it: a missing woman whose body was discovered in the fountain of a city park lake. 

Cleo Sherwood was a young African-American woman who liked to have a good time. No one seems to know or care why she was killed except Maddie--and the dead woman herself. Maddie's going to find the truth about Cleo's life and death. Cleo's ghost, privy to Maddie's poking and prying, wants to be left alone. Maddie's investigation brings her into contact with people that used to be on the periphery of her life--a jewelery store clerk, a waitress, a rising star on the Baltimore Orioles, a patrol cop, a hardened female reporter, a lonely man in a movie theater. 

But for all her ambition and drive, Maddie often fails to see the people right in front of her. Her inability to look beyond her own needs will lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people--including the man who shares her bed, a black police officer who cares for Maddie more than she knows.'


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The Recovery Agent
(Gabriela Rose #1)
by Janet Evanovich
ARC ~ Published March 2022

Lost something? Gabriela Rose knows how to get it back. As a recovery agent, she’s hired by individuals and companies seeking lost treasures, stolen heirlooms, or missing assets of any kind. She’s reliable, cool under pressure, and well trained in weapons of all types. But Gabriela’s latest job isn’t for some bamboozled billionaire, it’s for her own family, whose home is going to be wiped off the map if they can’t come up with a lot of money fast.

Inspired by an old family legend, Gabriela sets off for the jungles of Peru in pursuit of the Ring of Solomon and the lost treasure of Cortez. But this particular job comes with a huge problem attached to it—Gabriela’s ex-husband, Rafer. It’s Rafer who has the map that possibly points the way to the treasure, and he’s not about to let Gabriela find it without him.

Rafer is as relaxed as Gabriela is driven, and he has a lifetime’s experience getting under his ex-wife’s skin. But when they aren’t bickering about old times the two make a formidable team, and it’s going to take a team to defeat the vicious drug lord who has also been searching for the fabled ring. A drug lord who doesn’t mind leaving a large body count behind him to get it.

The Recovery Agent marks the start of an irresistible new series that will have you clamoring for more and cheering for the unstoppable Gabriela Rose on every page. 

Read my thoughts here

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We are on a road trip this week, spending time with some family and exploring in the western parts of the US. Since I'm probably not going to be posting much, I thought I would set up a special giveaway while I'm gone.

This week, I'm giving away 2 ARCs so —
TWO books, TWO winners!



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Wednesday, November 9, 2022

The Christmas Charm by Deanna Lynn Sletten ~ #Giveaway! #TheChristmasCharm @DeannaLSletten

The Christmas Charm by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Holiday Women's Fiction, 148 pages
Published November 1, by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Cover Created by Deborah Bradseth Book

Small-town charm and a family on the brink of disaster as Christmas brings its much-needed magic to those who need it most.

1959 – June and Patrick Elden spend their very first Christmas together in their tiny downtown apartment in the rural town of Redmond. As newlyweds, they have their entire lives ahead of them, and their dreams of a home and family loom large. Despite not having much money, Patrick surprises June with a beautiful Christmas star necklace as a symbol of all the years to come. And as their life grows and changes, the story of that little necklace becomes a family tradition that their children and grandchildren cherish throughout the years.

2022 – Jessica Paxton hasn’t returned home for Christmas since the passing of her beloved Grandma June. Despite being an accomplished divorce lawyer in Minneapolis, she still cowers at the thought of spending time in her childhood home with her mother without her grandmother as a buffer. Her mother hasn’t forgiven her for a long-ago tragedy, and frankly, Jess hasn’t forgiven herself either. But her younger sister has begged her to come home, so she does. What awaits her is a family full of problems and tension between her and her mother at its worst. Should Jess turn tail and run for home, or will the Christmas traditions of the past prove strong enough to hold this family together?

  

I love this book so much and I want to gift a copy of it to one of my followers. Deanna is one of my favorite authors and I've loved all of her books. Her daughter designs all of her covers and I think this one is absolutely beautiful! 


I've also included the link to Deanna's own giveaway. Hop over to her page and check out the wonderful things that she's giving away!

About the author


Deanna Lynn Sletten is the author of The Ones We Leave Behind, Miss Etta, The Women of Great Heron Lake, Maggie's Turn, The Lake Harriet Series, and several other titles. She writes heartwarming women's fiction and romance novels with unforgettable characters. She has also written one middle-grade novel that takes you on the adventure of a lifetime.

Deanna is married and has two grown children. When not writing, she enjoys walking the wooded trails around her home with her beautiful Australian Shepherd or relaxing on the lake in the summer.

Deanna loves hearing from her readers. 
Connect with her here.



Enter to win a Kindle copy of The Christmas Charm here then pop over to Deanna's page for another chance to win some wonderful prizes!



ENTER DEANNA'S GIVEAWAY HERE

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Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Book Blitz! The Wedding Laughbox by Julia Kent ~ Excerpt and #Giveaway #TheWeddingLaughbox @jkentauthor @XpressoTours

 

The Wedding Laughbox by Julia Kent
(Shopping for a Billionaire, #3)
Publication date: November 8th 2022
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

The Wedding Laughbox contains FIVE full-length novels and ONE ALL NEW NOVELLA! – from a variety of New York Times bestselling romantic comedy author Julia Kent’s series.

It’s wedding season, and what’s better than a wedding in rom com style?

Julia Kent’s madcap style, that is.

How about a campground double wedding with three grooms and two brides? (What? Yep…) Or a billionaire and his betrothed escaping their own wedding to flee to Vegas? Paparazzi galore and a stubborn father of the groom ruining a CEO’s planned nuptials until he takes matters into his own hands and does love his way? A disgruntled older sister watching her sister find wedded bliss and maybe, just maybe, finding her own love with a rival billionaire?

With five different stories you get bridezillas, momzillas — even a billionaire dadzilla – with over-the-top fun and lush, luxurious settings, all wrapped up in community, connection, and loads of fun.

This boxed set includes:

Shopping for a Billionaire’s Wife
Shopping for a CEO’s Wife
It’s Always Complicated
Random Acts of Love
Hasty

And an ALL NEW novella featuring Will and Mallory from the book Fluffy, as they go on their honeymoon and discover that life is nothing but a series of coincidences as their past comes back to haunt them with hilarious results.

Sink into SIX humor-filled books that pour you into wedding planning, bachelorette and bachelor parties, give you all the wedding jitters and proud family moments, all wrapped up in a huge boxed set you can sink into and find your way to long-term love.

Note: each of these books can be read as a standalone, but they are part of larger series. All of my Laughbox boxed sets are designed to give readers a taste of my books, centered on a specific concept (in this case, weddings). Full disclosure for readers.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

iBooks | Kobo

About the author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. Since 2013, she has sold more than 2 million books, with 4 New York Times bestsellers and more than 21 appearances on the USA Today bestseller list. Her books have been translated into French, German, and Italian, with more titles releasing in the future.

From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men's room toilet (and he isn't a billionaire she met in a romantic comedy).

She lives in New England with her husband and three children where she is the only person in the household with the gene required to change empty toilet paper rolls.

She loves to hear from her readers by email at julia@jkentauthor.com, on Twitter @jkentauthor, on Facebook at @jkentauthor, and on Instagram @jkentauthor. Visit her at http://jkentauthor.com

Connect with Julia

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

Instagram | Newsletter | Bookbub | Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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